With just days left for the NEET-UG 2026 re-exam, the National Testing Agency (NTA) has uncovered a large-scale fraud network operating on Telegram. The app has now been temporarily banned by the Centre.
Scammers allegedly claim anywhere in between $14000 to $25,000, and in some cases up to $The agency said $10,000, by falsely claiming access to “leaked exam retake papers.”
NTA has also warned students about this Fabricated “proof” videos and manipulated conversations are circulating to prey on candidates and concerned parents.
Telegram scams target NEET aspirants
In an official advisory, the NTA said that multiple The Telegram channels were effectively running two coordinated fraud schemes.
One of them is the money-for-paper scam. The scammers were here demanding $14,000- $25,000 students and in extreme cases they ask for up to $10 lakh, claiming that they can submit “NEET re-exam papers”.
NTA on X explained that there is no such paper outside the secure system, and said that once the money is transferred, it is lost. The agency also noted that personal data such as admit cards and WhatsApp numbers shared with these groups are later reused to target other students.
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The second scam is falsifying “evidence.” The NTA identified a more sophisticated scam involving manipulated Telegram messages and videos.
According to the agency, “In Telegram, anyone who runs a channel can edit any old message and change what is inside it, while the date of the message remains the same. So a message that was edited on the fourth day can be made to look exactly as it was sent on the first day.”
Fraudsters use this feature to create fake timetables saying question papers have been “leaked” before exams.
NTA explains how the scam works
NTA Director General Abhishek Singh described how the racket is exploiting vulnerabilities in Telegram.
He said: “The first is very simple. Social media is full of such stories about Telegram channels claiming to sell re-exam papers.” NEET Undergraduates in 2026. We checked all these claims and what we found is that they are all fake. They are created using AI and other tools and the way they work is that their price is very low from a few thousand to a few thousand rupees.
He added: “Anyone who claims to sell you any paper is lying, trying to deceive you, trying to deceive you, and trying to exploit your weakness to take money.”
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The GM also said that Telegram’s message editing system is being abused. “Telegram has a vulnerability that allows Telegram channel admins to edit a conversation in the past date… and the timestamp remains the same… People will be fooled by looking at this video and thinking that this question paper was shared earlier.”
IIT Madras expert explains fraud model
NTA also referred to clarifications made by IIT Madras director V Kamakoti, who explained how edited timestamps and reused letters could be used to fabricate “evidence” of paper leaks even where they do not exist.
The government temporarily blocks Telegram
Act NTA Recommendations The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has issued directions under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act.
Key actions include:
- Temporarily restricted access to Telegram in India until June 22.
- The ban covers the NEET re-exam day (June 21) and immediately thereafter.
- Request that Telegram’s message editing feature be disabled until June 30.
Google has already removed the Telegram app from the Play Store, and Apple is expected to follow suit. No messages are received or sent – the ban appears to be in effect.
According to Singh, “Under no circumstances can anyone access the question papers before June 21 at 2 pm. Anyone who claims to sell you any paper is lying, trying to cheat you, trying to cheat you, trying to take advantage of your weakness to take money.”
He also said that the security arrangements include high-level safeguards involving several state and central agencies.
The authorities have asked students and parents to report scams to the National Cyber Crime Helpline (1930) or cybercrime.gov.in and rely only on official updates from the National Testing Agency.
Telegram founder criticizes the ban
Founder of Telegram Pavel Durov criticized the temporary ban. He said the action taken affects a user base of more than 150 million people in India and fails to meaningfully address the alleged exam security breaches that led to the restriction being imposed.
“The Indian Ministry of IT banned Telegram for a week because some users shared leaked exam questions. This penalizes over 150 million regular users of Telegram in India, not the insiders who leaked the exam materials. The ban didn’t stop anything. The leaks just trickled down to other apps,” he wrote on X.
Abhishek Singh told news agency ANI, “People can run some channels using a VPN or they can work from outside India. But the reality is that the few students who access them, they will not be able to access them. Although they can continue to run their channels, but if there are no customers, fraud will be prevented and students will be protected from losing money and from wasting their time chasing fake question papers.”
the The NEET exam will be re-conducted on June 21 after the May session was canceled due to paper leak. The Central Bank of Iraq is now investigating the case.
