Fake Telegram based "Paper Leak" Scam bused by Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force
Police say suspect tricked nursing-exam aspirants in several states by promising leaked question papers on Telegram and charging about ₹2,000 each. Owing to such wide scale abuse of Telegram, India ranks first in data disclosure request from Telegram, with 2734 request sent in Q1 itself.
The Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (STF) has arrested a man it says led a gang running a fake “paper leak” racket on Telegram, targeting thousands of exam aspirants with question papers it never actually had. (Lucknow, June 7, 2026)
The accused is named in the STF press note as Om Kumar, son of Sagar Sav, a resident of West Pandarak in Patna, Bihar. He was arrested in the Sushant Golf City police station area of Lucknow on June 6, at about 7:45 p.m. Police seized two mobile phones and two Aadhaar cards from him.
How the alleged scam worked
According to the STF, the gang created fake Telegram channels, using names such as "paper leak" and others, and claimed to have the real question papers and answer keys for upcoming competitive exams. Aspirants who joined were sent QR codes and asked to pay about ₹2,000 each, on the promise that they would receive the paper a day before the test.
The case that led to the arrest
The investigation began after the STF received a tip that fake channels were targeting the UP CNET (Common Nursing Entrance Test), conducted by Atal Bihari Vajpayee Medical University, Lucknow. The exam was held on June 6.
Police identified channels named "UP CNET OUT QUESTION PRIVATE CHANNAL," "@Gauravsirofficials" and "@Youandmooon." The university's examination controller filed a complaint at Sushant Golf City police station, Case No. 359/2026, under Section 318(4) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, which deals with cheating, and Section 66D of the Information Technology Act, which covers cheating by impersonation using a computer or phone.
A team led by Inspector Satyaprakash Singh, working under Deputy Superintendent of Police Dharmesh Kumar Shahi, traced the channels and the money trail to Om Kumar. He was brought from Patna to Lucknow for questioning and, police say, arrested on the basis of evidence found on his phone.
What the accused reportedly told police
During questioning, the accused reportedly admitted that he and his associates had been running similar fake networks since 2022, across Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and other states.
Police say the gang deliberately kept the amounts small, around ₹2,000, so that most students would not bother filing a complaint over a minor loss. After each exam, the channels were shut down, and new ones were opened in time for the next exam.
Rising abuse of Telegram
This arrest is the latest in a string of similar cases. In recent months, the UP STF has broken up several Telegram-based rackets that falsely claimed to sell leaked papers for exams such as the UP Police Sub-Inspector recruitment test. Officials have repeatedly warned aspirants not to trust "paper leak" offers on social media.