CYBER FRAUD COMPLAINT
Complaint for registration of a first information report, under section 173 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023
Date: __________, at __________
__________
To: The Station House Officer, __________
From: __________, __________ (email __________, telephone __________)
Subject: Complaint of cheating through __________, with loss of __________, and request to register an FIR
Sir or Madam,
- 1. Who I am. I am the person who lost the money described below. I am making this complaint on my own knowledge.
- 2. The person or persons I complain against. __________ __________
- 3. What happened. On __________, I was approached through __________. __________
- 4. What I did because of it. __________
- 5. The money I lost. The following payments left my account because of this: __________ The total I have lost is __________. The payments were made __________.
- 6. What I have already reported. __________ __________
- 7. The offences I believe were committed. These facts disclose cheating, and cheating by pretending to be someone else, under sections 318 and 319 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, and cheating by personation using a computer resource, and identity theft where my or another person's identity was used, under sections 66D and 66C of the Information Technology Act, 2000, together with any other offence the police find on investigation.
- 8. What I ask. I ask you to register a first information report on this complaint under section 173 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, and to give me a free copy of it. If this offence is not within your station's area, I ask you to register it and send it to the proper station, instead of turning me away. I also ask you to write at once to the banks, wallets and platforms that received my money, so that the money is held, to preserve the call, message and account records of the persons named above, and to investigate and trace them.
- 9. Evidence I am giving you. __________
- 10. If this complaint is not acted on. If the FIR is not registered, I will send this complaint in writing to the senior police officer, and I may apply to the Magistrate.
VERIFICATION
Verified at __________ on __________ that the contents of this complaint are true to my own knowledge, that I have hidden nothing material, and that the papers and files I am handing over are true copies of what I hold.
LEGAL BASIS
Punjab: Section 173 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 lets a person give information of a cognizable offence to a police station, orally, in writing or electronically, and the station registers it as a first information report even where the offence happened outside its area, and gives the informant a copy free of cost. Cheating and cheating by personation are offences under sections 318 and 319 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, and cheating by personation using a computer resource and identity theft are offences under sections 66D and 66C of the Information Technology Act, 2000. The police station and its senior officer deal with the complaint; if the station does not register it, the informant can write to the senior police officer and apply to the Magistrate, and the High Court at Chandigarh, the Punjab and Haryana High Court, can be approached where the police do not act. A suit for recovery of the money can be brought in the civil court having jurisdiction, and an appeal from its decree goes to the District Judge or to the Punjab and Haryana High Court. Online fraud can also be reported on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal and through helpline 1930.
Chandigarh: Section 173 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 applies in the Union Territory in the same terms: the information may be given orally, in writing or electronically, the station registers it even where the offence happened elsewhere, and the informant is given a free copy. The offences are cheating and cheating by personation under sections 318 and 319 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, and the offences under sections 66D and 66C of the Information Technology Act, 2000. The complaint goes to the police station for the area or to the cyber crime police station, and, if it is not acted on, to the senior police officer and then the Magistrate, with the Punjab and Haryana High Court open where the police do not act. A suit for recovery of the money lies in the civil court at Chandigarh, with an appeal to the District Judge, Chandigarh, or to the Punjab and Haryana High Court. Online fraud can also be reported on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal and through helpline 1930.
PERSONAL DATA NOTICE
This notice is given under the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023.
The purpose of collecting the personal data in this complaint is to identify the complainant and the persons complained against, record how the fraud happened and what was lost, and let the police register and investigate the case.
The record will be held by __________ and may be shared with the police station and cyber crime police, the banks, wallets and platforms that handled the money, the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal, the complainant's advocate, and any Magistrate or court that hears the matter.
If the matter does not proceed, the personal data will be retained for 90 days and then erased. If the matter proceeds, the record will be retained for the transaction or authority matter plus 12 months, except where a statute requires a longer named retention period.
A person named in this document may request correction or erasure where the purpose has ended, withdraw consent for future consent-based processing, or raise a grievance by writing to __________. The record-holder should acknowledge and reply within 30 days.
Data minimisation: this document does not collect a full Aadhaar number, an Aadhaar-card copy, a password or bank credentials.
Personal-data instruction: __________.
SIGNATURE
______________________________
Signature
Complainant: __________
Place: ____________________
Date: ____________________