Assam is suffering from one of the worst floods right now. According to reports, the death toll has risen to 95 and over 1.68 lakh people have been affected across 14 high-alert districts.
One of the worst-affected areas has been Sivasagar, where over 57,000 people have been impacted, followed by Golaghat and Jorhat. Even though this calamity has been affecting the state for close to three weeks now, it is only recently that the national media has woken up to the plight of the people.
Beyond a handful of regional outlets and independent journalists, the main source of news about the floods was still social media, with Instagram especially being used by the locals, who presented the ground reality. Soon after, relief aid pages started to pop up, with many willing to lend help to the state during this time.
These pages asked people to donate whatever amount they could, promising that the money would be used to buy essential supplies for the flood-affected areas.
Over the past week or so, though, reports have started to emerge that scammers have joined in too, using flood relief donations as a cover.
What Is Happening In Assam?
The Assam 2026 floods were triggered by a massive cloudburst on July 19, 2026, amid heavy monsoon rains. The downpour was almost 490% above normal levels, prompting Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma to address the situation at a press conference.
As reported by the Assam Tribune, Sarma told reporters that Nagaland alone received 181% above-normal rainfall over those three days, with Mokokchung recording a staggering 493% excess, while Assam’s own Charaideo district logged 436% above-normal rainfall in the same window.
The water soon began to inundate these areas, with around 15,300 hectares of agricultural land submerged and seasonal crops destroyed, while roads, houses, schools and other structures have suffered massive damage.
There has also been a loss of animals and poultry, with around 26,000 of them affected or killed.
While there are natural reasons why these floods became so intense, one being the hydrological bottleneck created by local tributaries swelling up rapidly after intense upstream cloudbursts, other causes include deforestation, mining and weakened embankments.
Around 55 relief camps for displaced citizens are being run by the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) and medical teams.
The citizens are also dealing with contaminated drinking water, lack of proper sewage, and the spread of diseases like dengue, malaria and Japanese encephalitis.
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The Donation Scam Unveiled
The Assam Police Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has recently launched an investigation into the alleged scam revolving around the Assam flood fundraising efforts.
The police authorities have reportedly confirmed that the cyber cell is currently tracing around 50 social media accounts that are suspected of scamming people out of money using Assam flood relief as a pretext.
As per reports, investigators are following the money trail through bank accounts and digital payment methods, including UPI and QR code transactions, to determine whether the funds collected were diverted or misused.
The Assam CID is not the only one probing into this. Several locals have been using Instagram to spread awareness of these scams and to warn people to check such pages properly before donating to any Assam flood relief campaign.
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An India Today Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) analysis also looked into this scam, investigating over 40 Instagram accounts. The investigation revealed that around 9 in 10 accounts showed fraudulent or highly suspicious activity.
The research based its findings on three points:
- when the profile was created;
- whether payment details and phone numbers could be authenticated independently; and
- whether the organisation linked or named in the bio had a verified registration and a traceable footprint
If an account failed on all three of these counts, it was identified as highly suspicious, with the analysis claiming that “35 of the 40 accounts examined triggered every red flag.”
While the recent creation of the accounts could still be explained, it was the payment trail that set off alarm bells. According to the analysis, “Thirty-nine handles directed donors to UPI IDs registered to private individuals rather than accounts clearly associated with a recognised charity, foundation or relief organisation.”
The ability to contact these pages was also tested, with India Today stating that “36 either published no phone number or could not be reached on the numbers provided.”
An influencer from Assam also alleged that some people collected donations from the public but then distributed relief materials provided by district administrations, claiming that these had been bought with the donated money.
Although it is heartening that many people want to extend their help to the people of Assam in these difficult times, it is equally important to be careful and check that the help is actually reaching those who need it. It is unfortunate that even during such times, some people are looking to make money for selfish reasons.
Thus, people need to double-check such pages, verify whether they are transparent about where the donations are going and, most of all, whether they are contactable through whatever mode of communication they’ve provided.
Image Credits: Google Images
Sources: India Today, NEWire, Prag News
Find the blogger: @chirali_08
This post is tagged under: Assam, Assam floods, Assam floods 2026, Assam flood news, Assam flood affected areas, assam floods donation, assam floods 2026 news, assam floods donation scam, assam flood relief, assam flood relief donation
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