How to report cyber fraud in India: calling 1930 and filing on cybercrime.gov.in

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India has one national system for reporting cybercrime. The National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (cybercrime.gov.in) takes complaints about every kind of cybercrime. The 1930 helpline is the fast lane for money lost online: it feeds the Citizen Financial Cyber Fraud Reporting and Management System, which connects the police with banks, wallets and payment companies so that stolen money can be stopped before it is moved on.

Both are run by the Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre (I4C) under the Ministry of Home Affairs. The complaint itself is handled by the police of the state or union territory it is sent to. Speed matters most with money: the sooner the report reaches the banks, the better the chance the money is still in an account where it can be held.

Use it when

• Money left your account through UPI, a card, net banking or a wallet and you did not authorise it, or you were tricked into sending it: call 1930 first.
• Any other cybercrime: hacked accounts, online harassment, fake profiles, sextortion, ransomware, cryptocurrency fraud and similar.
• Online sexual content involving women or children, which the portal lets you report anonymously.

Not the right tool when

• An emergency or a crime happening right now: call 112.
• A suspicious call or message where you lost nothing: report it on Sanchar Saathi Chakshu instead.
• Getting an FIR on the spot: a portal complaint is not an FIR. The state police decide whether to register one.

Keep this ready

• Your mobile number (the complaint is linked to it by OTP)
• The bank, wallet or merchant the money went out from
• Your account number, wallet ID or UPI ID that was debited
• The transaction ID and the date of each transaction
• The card number, if a debit or credit card was misused
• Screenshots: the transaction, the chat, the caller's number, the website or app
• Anything else that shows what happened: bank statement, emails, links, receipts

Step by step

1. If you lost money, call 1930 as soon as you can. Give the operator the transaction details from the list above. You will get an acknowledgement or login ID by SMS or email.
2. Open cybercrime.gov.in and choose Register a Complaint. Pick Financial Fraud for lost money, Other Cyber Crime for everything else, or the Women/Children option for sexual content.
3. Log in with your name and an Indian mobile number. An OTP is sent to that number. If you already called 1930, use the ID you were sent to complete that complaint rather than starting a second one.
4. Choose the category and sub-category that fits best, then describe the incident: roughly when it happened, where, and what was said or done. If you are reporting late, say why.
5. Upload your evidence (screenshots, statements, receipts). Keep each file small; the portal limits upload size.
6. Add what you know about the suspect: phone numbers, UPI IDs, account numbers, profile links, websites.
7. Fill in your own details and ID proof, preview the complaint, submit it, and download the PDF copy.
8. Save the acknowledgement number. Use Track your Complaint on the portal to check its status.

What happens next

• The acknowledgement number is a complaint reference, not an FIR number.
• The complaint goes to the cyber police of the state or union territory selected. They examine it and decide on an FIR and investigation under the law.
• For money fraud, a designated police officer verifies the complaint and reports it to the banks and payment companies involved so the money can be blocked where it is still available.
• Money that is held is returned through a legal process, not automatically. Since April 2026 the portal has a money restoration module and a grievance module for frozen or lien-marked accounts.
• State police send updates by SMS and email. If you are unhappy with the handling, each state has a nodal and grievance officer listed on the portal.

Know the limits

• Nobody can promise your money back. Recovery depends on how fast the report reaches the bank and where the money went.
• Anyone who calls or messages offering to speed up your 1930 complaint or recover your money for a fee is running a second scam.
• Giving false information in a complaint can lead to legal action.
• Anonymous complaints (women and child related content only) cannot be tracked. If you want updates, use Register & Track.
• The portal has warned about fake emails that pretend to come from I4C, the Intelligence Bureau and Delhi Police. Real complaint updates never ask you to pay.

Numbers to know

• Cyber financial fraud helpline: 1930
• Police emergency: 112
• Women helpline: 181

Related guides

• Lost money in a UPI fraud? What to do in the first hour, and how to complain on 1930
• Cyber crime complaint status 'pending'? How to track an NCRP complaint and what to do next
• Money on hold after a 1930 complaint? How frozen funds are released back to victims
• How to get money back after cyber fraud: the real routes, the odds and 'recovery' scams