One of my clients recently had a case which I am explaining below and if you are stuck in such similar situation, here is what to do.
Note: Due to attorney-client privilege, I cannot disclose complete case details or identify the actual parties involved. However, I am sharing the essential facts and legal approach so that if you find yourself in a similar situation, you can understand the available solutions and legal remedies.
TL;DR: A crypto investment scam in India is prosecuted as cheating, and the fastest route is a written complaint on the national cyber crime portal plus a police complaint under Section 173 BNSS. Money moved through UPI can sometimes be traced and lien-marked if you act within hours or days, not weeks. If the police station refuses to register your FIR, a magistrate can be asked to direct an investigation under Section 175(3) BNSS.
Rohit Menon saw the ad on a Sunday afternoon. Plain image, plain line. Want to earn money, message me. He messaged. Inside an hour he was on WhatsApp with a man who introduced himself as a portfolio manager, and then on a website calling itself Zenith Trade Pro, where a dashboard showed a balance climbing steadily. It was never climbing. Every attempt to withdraw produced a fresh demand on screen. A security deposit first. Then GST. Then income tax. Then something called withdrawal verification. Seven transfers to four different UPI handles, a little over ₹47,000, all inside roughly ninety minutes. Then the screen asked for government approval before the money could be released.
He called 1930 that same evening. The voice on the line said the server was down and asked him to call back the next day. That was when he started looking for a lawyer, and by the following morning he had reached the Chamber of Advocate Sudhir Rao. An earlier, general complaint had produced nothing. What moved the matter was a complaint built around the specific UPI transaction trail, the payment flow on the platform, and the speed at which the beneficiary accounts were still active.
Advocate Sudhir Rao and his office argued that the facts disclosed cheating by personation and cheating by inducement, and the FIR was registered within days. The nodal bank was put on notice and the beneficiary accounts were flagged while the money trail was still fresh. Advocate Sudhir Rao's familiarity with cyber fraud matters, and with how transaction records have to be presented to a bank and a police station, is what helped secure the direction in the client's favour.
Key Facts of the Case
- The initial contact came through a social media advertisement offering easy earnings, and the conversation was moved to a messaging app within minutes.
- The trading platform shown to the client was a website displaying fabricated balances and fabricated profits.
- No trade was ever executed and no money was ever released to the client.
- Payments were made as a sequence of "fees": security deposit, GST, income tax, and withdrawal verification.
- Roughly ₹47,000 was transferred across seven transactions to four different UPI IDs within about ninety minutes.
- The 1930 helpline was not immediately available when the client first called.
- The FIR was registered after a structured complaint supported by bank and UPI records.
- The beneficiary accounts were flagged and the transaction trail preserved for investigation.
The Direct Legal Answer
Is a crypto investment scam a criminal offence in India?
Yes. Inducing a person to part with money on a false promise of profit is cheating, and doing it through a fake identity or a fake platform is cheating by personation. Both are cognizable offences, so the police are bound to register an FIR if the information discloses them. The platform being offshore or the "currency" being crypto does not change that.
I called 1930 and nothing happened. What now?
The helpline is a reporting channel, not the only one. You can file the same complaint in writing online on the national cyber crime portal, and you can also give a written complaint at the police station with territorial jurisdiction. Keep proof of the date and time you reported, because that record matters later.
Can I actually get the money back?
Sometimes. If the complaint reaches the bank while the funds are still sitting in the beneficiary account, a lien can be marked and the money can be held. If the money has been layered through several accounts or converted, recovery becomes far harder. Speed decides most of this. Nobody can promise a refund, and any advocate who does should be treated with caution.
Advice in Such Cases
Consult with Lawyer: The very basic and important step to start is talk to Lawyer / advocate. You should not hesitate in paying his consultation fee i.e. might be in range of Rs. 10,000 to 50,000 depends case to case. He is helping you in this situation to come out. He is expert in the domain and can help you explain the procedure which you might have never explored. A good lawyer can get the issues resolved much faster than you think.
Report before you tidy up. Call 1930 and file on the cyber crime portal the same day, then follow it with a written complaint to the police station and to your bank's nodal officer.
Freeze your own exposure first. Change UPI PINs, disable the mandate the fraudster may have set up, and stop any auto-debit linked to the platform.
Cyber fraud complaints turn on procedure and on the sequencing of documents. That is where an advocate who handles these matters regularly makes a difference, because the transaction trail has to be presented in a form a bank and an investigating officer can act on immediately.
Applicable Sections of Law
- Section 318 BNS (cheating, including cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property under sub-section (4))
- Section 319 BNS (cheating by personation)
- Section 61 BNS (criminal conspiracy, where more than one person was involved)
- Section 66D of the Information Technology Act, 2000 (cheating by personation using a computer resource or communication device)
- Section 173 BNSS (recording of information in cognizable cases, that is, registration of the FIR)
Punishment and Penalties
Cheating with dishonest inducement to deliver property under Section 318(4) BNS carries imprisonment up to seven years and fine. Cheating by personation under Section 319 BNS carries imprisonment up to five years and fine. Where a conspiracy is proved, Section 61 BNS is punishable in the same manner as the offence that was the object of the conspiracy. Under Section 66D of the IT Act, the punishment extends to three years and a fine up to one lakh rupees.
These offences are cognizable and non-bailable. They are compoundable only with the permission of the court, under the scheme in Section 359 BNSS.
Jurisdiction — Where to File the Case
For an FIR, the police station with territorial jurisdiction is normally the one where the complainant resides or where the loss was suffered, and in cyber fraud the place from where the victim made the payment is generally accepted. The cyber crime portal routes the complaint to the appropriate unit automatically.
A magistrate has jurisdiction where the offence was committed or where any part of the consequences followed. If the police do not act, a private complaint lies before the Judicial Magistrate having local jurisdiction. Jurisdiction matters because a complaint filed in the wrong forum is returned rather than transferred, and by then the money trail has usually gone cold.
What if Police Refuse to File FIR?
A refusal is not the end of the road. Registration is mandatory when the information discloses a cognizable offence, as the Supreme Court reiterated in Lalita Kumari v. Government of U.P., 2014.
- Send the substance of your complaint in writing to the Superintendent of Police under Section 173(4) BNSS, by registered post or email, and keep the receipt.
- If that produces nothing, file a private complaint before the Magistrate under Section 175(3) BNSS seeking a direction to investigate.
- As a last resort, move the High Court in its writ jurisdiction for a direction to register the FIR.
- Attach the bank statement, UPI reference numbers and screenshots to every version of the complaint.
Rights of the Accused
The same procedure that protects a victim also protects anyone wrongly named. That balance is deliberate.
- Protection against self-incrimination under Article 20(3) of the Constitution, and the right to remain silent.
- Right to be informed of the grounds of arrest and to consult a lawyer of choice under Article 22(1).
- Right to be produced before a Magistrate within twenty-four hours of arrest under Article 22(2).
- Right to a copy of the FIR and to know the grounds of arrest.
- Right to free and fair investigation, with safeguards laid down in D.K. Basu v. State of West Bengal, 1997.
Bail Provisions
Whether bail is available depends on the section invoked. Cheating under Section 318(4) BNS is non-bailable, so the accused must apply for bail before the Magistrate or the Sessions Court under Section 480 BNSS. Section 483 BNSS gives the High Court and the Court of Session special powers to grant bail.
A person who apprehends arrest can apply for anticipatory bail under Section 482 BNSS before the Sessions Court or the High Court. Typical conditions include cooperating with the investigation, not tampering with evidence, not contacting the complainant, and appearing when called.
Bail strategy in economic offences usually turns on the amount involved, the nature of the transaction trail, and whether custodial interrogation is genuinely needed. In most of these cases the accused has no connection with the complainant, the money has already moved through the banking system, and the court's real question is whether the person in custody is the only one who can explain where it went. An accused who can show that the transaction records sit with banks and payment platforms, not with him, has a better argument than one whom the investigating officer describes as the sole key to the trail. Amounts above the statutory threshold for economic offences also tend to attract stricter scrutiny, so the bail application has to be built on documents rather than on assurances.
What Happens After You Report a Crypto Investment Scam in India
The sequence is fairly predictable, even if the speed is not.
- Day one: the complaint is filed on the national cyber crime portal and a 1930 call is logged. You receive an acknowledgement number. Save it.
- The same day or the next: a written complaint goes to your bank's nodal officer with the UPI reference numbers, and to the police station with jurisdiction.
- First week: the bank lifts the transaction details, identifies the beneficiary accounts, and where funds are still lying there, marks a lien so the money cannot be withdrawn.
- After that: the cyber crime unit takes over the complaint, verifies the account holders, and the FIR follows.
- Investigation: bank records, KYC of the account holders, call detail records and the platform's hosting details are collected.
- Chargesheet and trial: if the accused is traced, the case is chargesheeted and goes to trial.
The part that moves fast is the lien. The part that moves slowly is everything else. An investigation in a cross-border crypto investment scam can run for months, and a trial for years after that. This is the honest picture, and it is why the reporting date matters more than anything else in the file.
What to Gather Before You File
You do not need a drafted plaint to walk into a police station or open the portal. You need the records that show the money left your account and where it went.
- The bank statement showing the debits, with UPI reference numbers and timestamps.
- Payment screenshots from the moment of transfer, with the beneficiary handle visible.
- The chat history, the advertisement that brought you in, and any website or app link.
- The platform's withdrawal screens, including every "fee" you were asked to pay before release.
- Your 1930 acknowledgement number and the portal complaint number, if you already have them.
- A short, chronological note, one page, of what happened in what order.
Keep the originals. Screenshots forwarded through three apps lose metadata, and the investigating officer will ask for the device.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is crypto itself illegal in India, so will the police refuse my complaint?
No. Virtual digital assets are not banned in India. They are taxable, and the Income-tax Act treats gains from them under a specific regime. A fraud committed through a platform that uses crypto is treated as fraud, not as a crypto offence, so the legality of the asset is not a defence available to the person who took your money.
My money went to a mule account. Is there any point complaining?
Yes, and it is the only thing that gives you a chance. A mule account is the first layer, and the first layer is the one that can still be frozen. If the complaint reaches the bank while the balance is intact, the lien holds the funds until the investigation is over. If the money has moved through two or three more accounts, that window is usually gone.
Can I file the complaint from a different city?
You can. The portal routes complaints by the location given, and the police station where you made the payment generally has jurisdiction. If you have since moved, file where you are and mention where the transfer was made, so the routing is correct.
Do I have to go to court myself?
Not to report. Court becomes necessary if the police do not register the FIR, if you want the investigation supervised, or if the case reaches trial and you are examined as a witness. Most of the early work — the complaint, the bank correspondence, the follow-up — happens outside a courtroom.
What if the website or the person is outside India?
This is where cases get difficult. Letters rogatory and mutual legal assistance requests take time, and recovery from a foreign account is rare in practice. The domestic part of the chain — the Indian UPI handles and the Indian bank accounts that received your money — is still worth pursuing, because that is where the enforceable trail is.
How much does it cost to pursue this?
It varies with how much has to be done. A structured complaint and bank follow-up is one kind of engagement. A private complaint before a Magistrate or a bail matter on the other side is another. Ask for a clear estimate in writing before you begin, and be wary of anyone quoting a figure linked to the amount you lost.
Getting the Complaint Right the First Time
What you send decides how the file is read. Put together the portal acknowledgement, the bank statement with the debits marked, the UPI reference numbers, the platform screenshots, and a two-line note saying what you want — freezing of the beneficiary accounts and registration of an FIR. Send it to /contact-us or book a slot at /book. If the money has already been layered away and there is nothing left to freeze, you will be told that plainly rather than billed for a fight that has no target.
This article is general information about Indian law and is not legal advice on your own situation. Please consult an advocate before acting on it.
Advocate Sudhir Rao, Supreme Court of India
Facing a similar matter? Speak to a Delhi criminal defence lawyer — Advocate Sudhir Rao appears in bail, trial and appellate matters before the Delhi District Courts, the Delhi High Court and the Supreme Court of India.