The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) continues to dominate social media conversations across India, while scammers are now looking to ride the wave as well. Police in Punjab said cybercriminals are exploiting the movement’s popularity to spread phishing links on WhatsApp, with the aim of hacking mobile phones and stealing sensitive financial information.
Punjab Police issued an official warning on Saturday, urging citizens to be vigilant and resist clicking on links claiming to offer “membership” in the CJP, which began as a satirical movement named after a comment by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant.
Police also said, according to news agency PTI, that the warning came after discovering that such links were being widely circulated on WhatsApp, targeting users whose curiosity about the newly formed group made them vulnerable to exploitation.
What did the police say?
Ludhiana Police has issued an alert. “This is not a joke, but a big conspiracy to hack your phone and fraudulently withdraw your money. Don’t make the mistake of clicking on such fake links. Be careful, be careful!” Read a message shared by the district police on its official platforms.
The police official in Ludhiana explained in detail the mechanisms of the fraud in a video statement. He pointed out that many people have shown enthusiasm for the Cockroach Janata Party, and scammers are exploiting exactly this enthusiasm by sending phishing links via WhatsApp, framing them as an invitation to officially join the party.
“Clicking on the link will lead to your phone being hacked, giving fraudsters access to your bank account details. They can obtain loans in your name and withdraw money from your account,” the official warned.
Phishing links of this type usually install malware or redirect users to fake pages designed to collect login credentials. Using a trending topic as bait — in this case CJP’s name and photos — is a well-documented tactic among cybercriminals, who routinely exploit high-visibility events or trends.
The CJP continues to make waves
The CJP was founded by Abhijit Debke, a Boston University student who was earlier associated with the Aam Aadmi Party. The group was only created a week ago, but has already attracted more than 20 million followers on Instagram, making it one of the fastest-growing political movements on Indian social media in recent memory. Its content, including memes, fake statements and sarcastic comments, has focused on issues close to Indian youth, such as unemployment and exam paper leaks.
The name RJD and its origins go back to the controversy surrounding the Chief Justice of India’s statements during a court hearing, in which the terms “parasites” and “cockroaches” were used. Although the CJI later clarified that his statement was misquoted, the alleged party adopted the cockroach as its symbol and soon gained a following.
Her X account was later blocked in India, a move that drew criticism from the Internet Freedom Foundation, a digital rights group. Debke himself separately claimed that all of the CJP’s social media accounts and website had been deleted or hacked, leaving the group without access to its official platforms.
Meanwhile, police were deployed for protection at Deepki’s home in Chhatrapati Sambaginagar in Maharashtra, where his parents live while he lives in Boston, officials said on Sunday.
Deputy Commissioner of Police Pankaj Atulkar confirmed the deployment of troops. “We have provided round-the-clock general police protection to Abhijit Deepki’s residence located in MIDC Waluj area. This is to ensure that there is no crowding at his residence as the CJP case is trending on social media at the moment,” DCP Atulkar told news agency PTI.
