Guwahati: Nearly Rs 15 crore siphoned in city by scamsters

Staff Reporter

Guwahati: In light of a sharp escalation in financial cybercrimes in the city, Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Birinchi Bora expressed grave concern over the rising number of educated individuals falling prey to digital scams. He urged citizens to remain vigilant against perpetrators of such scams.

Addressing a press conference at the Crime Branch office in Panbazar, ADCP Birinchi Bora stated that basic knowledge of the digital world we live in at present is compulsory to avoid being duped by cybercriminals. He also revealed that fraudsters have siphoned off nearly Rs 15 crore from unsuspecting victims in the city so far this year.

Highlighting the increasing numbers of digital/cyber financial fraud cases, ADCP Bora stated that the Cyber Police Station, Guwahati, has received 386 numbers of complaints in the year 2025 to date. In a recent case, a person from Chandmari reported a complaint wherein he had invested 1.5 lakh rupees in a trading platform not recognised by RBI, and he lost all his invested amount. Accordingly, an inquiry was conducted, and an amount of approximately Rs 1.30 lakh rupees was recovered and returned to the victim.

Bora also revealed that, in the year 2025, an amount of Rs. 14.50 crore has been reported to be fraudulently siphoned off from the accounts of different victims. Out of this, the Cyber Police Station has been able to recover an amount of Rs. 2.12 crore to date. It was also mentioned that in the year 2024-25, a total number of 37 cases have been registered and 55 persons arrested.

Bora expressed grave concern over the rising number of educated individuals falling prey to digital scams. “Even well-informed citizens are losing their hard-earned money to these cybercriminals. This trend is deeply worrying,” he said.

According to the Crime Branch, scammers have adopted increasingly deceptive methods, often impersonating officials from the CBI, Customs Department, banks, or even the police. Victims are contacted through phone calls and coerced into transferring large sums under fabricated threats or pretexts.

ADCP Bora also asked citizens to verify any phone call declaring that a relative has been arrested or regarding other threats and pretexts. It should be borne in mind that there is no such thing as ‘digital arrest,’ where a victim is barred from making any phone call or informing others.

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