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https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/oct/30/scamming-became-the-new-farming-inside-india-cybercrime-villages>
"On the surface, the town of Jamtara appeared no different from neighbouring
districts. But, if you knew where to look, there were startling differences. In
the middle of spartan villages were houses of imposing size and unusual
opulence. Millions of Indians knew why this was. They knew, to their cost,
where Jamtara was. To them, it was no longer a place; it was a verb. You lived
in fear of being “Jamtara-ed”.
Over the past 15 years, parts of this sleepy district in the eastern state of
Jharkhand had grown fabulously wealthy. This extraordinary feat of rural
development was powered by young men who, armed with little more than mobile
phones, had mastered the art of siphoning money from strangers’ bank accounts.
The sums they pilfered were so staggering that, at times, their schemes
resembled bank heists more than mere acts of financial fraud.
In a short period, scam calls became an almost universal experience in India.
With every innovation in India’s digital marketplace – smartphones, digital
wallets, e-commerce, crypto – Jamtara’s scams expanded their target area. In
New Delhi, India’s policymakers boasted about “Digital India” and the spread of
modern telecom infrastructure. But, for the majority of Indian citizens, the
digital revolution became synonymous with Jamtara scams. Netflix even made a TV
series about the district, with the tag line “Sabka Number Aayega”. You could
read that as “everyone will get a call” or as “your number will be up”.
Jamtara’s scammers took immense pride in duping the rich and famous. Conning a
film star or a parliamentarian wasn’t just about financial gain; it was a
triumph that elevated their own standing.
From 2015 onwards, police from various states descended on the district.
Arrests became common – but bail was easy to secure. Cases took ages to close,
and conviction rates weren’t high enough to stem the flood of scams. A few
weeks before flying to Jharkhand to report on this phenomenon, I visited
Delhi’s state-of-the-art cybercrime police station. The deputy superintendent
showed me a video on his phone that captured the unapologetic opulence of a
scammer’s house: a vividly painted bungalow with sprawling balconies and art
deco styling, each section a splash of nursery-bright colours, of strawberry
pink and pistachio green. His disbelief was evident in the breathless
commentary that accompanied the video.
I wanted to understand how an obscure district in a neglected state became
India’s byword for digital deceit. Initially, I thought this would be a story
about the dark promise of technology and the lure of easy money. But over weeks
of reporting, what emerged was a portrait of two Indias colliding – one chasing
material progress, the other bent on survival. And in their collision was born
the kind of ambition that can drive those with nothing to lose into
criminality, while entrenched inequalities make it impossible for them to turn
back."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
