‘Scamming became the new farming’: inside India’s cybercrime villages

“诈骗成了新的农耕”:探秘印度网络犯罪村庄

The Audio Long Read

2025-11-24

41 分钟
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How did an obscure district in a neglected state become India’s byword for digital deceit? By Snigdha Poonam. Read by Mikhail Sen. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
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  • Scamming became the new farming.

  • Inside India's cybercrime villages, by Snigvar Poonam, read by Mikhail Sen.

  • Some names and identifying details have been changed.

  • 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'd.

  • Over the past 15 years,