Fake Police Notice PDF Scam Explained — How to Verify and Report (2026)

A “Police Notice — appear within 24 hours or face arrest” PDF on email or WhatsApp is the most common opening shot of the digital-arrest scam. The notice is forged, the seal is photoshopped, and the phone number on it is routed to a call centre that will keep you on a Skype call until your bank account is empty.

There is no concept of “digital arrest” in Indian law. A genuine police summons is served physically by an officer of your local police station, never as a WhatsApp PDF demanding money. This page shows you how to verify any digital notice in five minutes and report the forgery.

A police notice that arrives on email, WhatsApp, or SMS — especially as a PDF claiming to be from CBI, Mumbai / Delhi Police, Cybercrime Cell, NIA, or “Customs” — is almost always a scam. Genuine summons under BNSS, 2023 §63 are served physically by an officer of the local police station, in writing, in duplicate, signed and sealed. Verify any digital notice by calling the official station landline (taken from the state police website, not the number printed on the PDF), and report the fake at cybercrime.gov.in or by calling 1930. Never share screen, never pay, never panic.

• How the digital-arrest scam runs
• Five red flags in the PDF
• How a real summons is served
• Verify in 5 minutes
• 30-minute drill if you already engaged
• Report the fake notice
• What not to do
• Sample report letter
• Can compensation be claimed?
• FAQ

1. Hook — Email / WhatsApp PDF: “FIR No. 12345/2026 — Cybercrime Branch Mumbai — Money laundering investigation against your Aadhaar.” Logos of CBI, RBI, DRI, “Cyber Police,” sometimes a fake Supreme Court watermark.
2. Authority transfer — Phone number in the PDF leads to a “Sub-Inspector” who video-calls you on Skype / WhatsApp wearing a police-style uniform in front of a fake station backdrop.
3. Confine — You are told you are under “digital arrest” and must stay on video, alone, until “verification” completes.
4. Drain — You are pressured to “transfer funds for verification” / “open RTGS for refund.” The money goes to mule accounts and is layered out through crypto exchanges.

The PIB Fact Check unit, the Ministry of Home Affairs' Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C), and the Reserve Bank of India have all publicly confirmed: “digital arrest” is not a legal concept in Indian law. No agency arrests anyone over a video call.

I request registration of an FIR under BNS, 2023 §318 (cheating), §319 (cheating by personation), §336–§340 (forgery, forged electronic record, and using a forged document as genuine), and IT Act §66D (cheating by personation by means of a communication device). Please also flag to the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (Reference: __ at cybercrime.gov.in).

Yours faithfully, [Signature, Name, Date] [Phone, Email] </code>

Yes — three parallel routes:

1. Bank refund under the RBI Limited Liability Circular, 6 July 2017. If you report the unauthorised electronic transaction within 3 working days, your liability is zero where the failure is on the bank's side, and capped at fixed limits otherwise. Report in writing to the bank and keep the complaint reference.
2. Insurance. Some cyber-insurance and card-protection policies cover digital-arrest fraud. Check the policy terms; the insurer will want the FIR number and the 1930 reference.
3. Consumer forum. If your bank ignored clear fraud signals (an unusual large transfer to a new payee, no alert), you can file a complaint under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019.

Reporting to 1930 within the first golden hour gives banks the best chance to freeze the mule account before the money is layered onward.

1. 0–5 min — Disconnect; pull the station number from the official state police website
2. 5–15 min — Call the station; confirm the forgery
3. 15–25 min — File at cybercrime.gov.in; call 1930 if money moved
4. 25–30 min — Forward to PIB Fact Check and Sanchar Saathi Chakshu
5. Same day — File a written FIR at the local station; submit to the cyber cell
6. Within 3 working days — File the written bank dispute under the RBI Limited Liability framework

• Block lost / stolen SIM
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• Arrest, FIR & notice — your rights
• Deepfake blackmail recovery

• MHA — Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C): cybercrime.gov.in · 1930 · I4C has issued public advisories confirming that “digital arrest” is not a legal concept
• PIB Fact Check: factcheck.pib.gov.in · WhatsApp +91-8799711259
• DoT — Sanchar Saathi → Chakshu
• State police citizen portals for FIR verification
• BNSS, 2023 — §63 (form of summons), §64 (service), §66 (substituted service)
• BNS, 2023 — §318 (cheating), §319 (cheating by personation), §336–§340 (forgery, forged electronic record, using a forged document as genuine), §351 (criminal intimidation)
• IT Act, 2000 — §66D (cheating by personation by communication device), §66C (identity theft)
• RBI Circular “Customer Protection — Limiting Liability of Customers in Unauthorised Electronic Banking Transactions”, 6 July 2017

No. Indian police do not conduct proceedings, record statements, or do “verification” on Skype, WhatsApp video, Zoom, or any video platform. All such calls are scams.

Public databases — voter rolls, leaked Aadhaar data, EPF, scholarship portals, old e-commerce orders. Address knowledge is not proof of authenticity.

If you call 1930 quickly, banks can sometimes freeze the mule account before the money is moved onward. Outside that window, file the bank dispute, the FIR, and (if relevant) the banking ombudsman in parallel — partial and delayed recoveries do happen when the paperwork is complete.

Investigative agencies issue summons under the BNSS in the prescribed physical form, not by WhatsApp PDF. The Reserve Bank of India has no power to summon individuals at all — any “RBI notice” demanding money is a forgery on its face.

Forwarding for awareness (with personal details redacted) is fine. Forwarding a forgery intact, with sensational claims, can attract BNS, 2023 §351 (criminal intimidation by anonymous communication) or other liability if you amplify it. Redact, don't dramatise.

Usually an empty threat. Demanding money to “stop” a doxxing that was never real is part of the scam. Block the number and report; do not pay.

Last reviewed: 17 July 2026.