Summary of this article
The government has saved over Rs 11,158 crore through more than 3.28 million complaints lodged on the CFCFRMS till June 2026.
CFCFRMS, under the I4C framework, allows victims to report financial cyber fraud online, triggering account freezing and investigation.
A standard SOP streamlines fund recovery and tracks complaints from report to FIR and chargesheet.
Specific data regarding scammed amounts and cases resolved specifically for fake e-challan incidents is not maintained by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), Minister of State in the Ministry of Home Affairs Bandi Sanjay Kumar told Rajya Sabha in a written reply on August 12, 2026 in reply to a question by Parliamentarian Neeraj Dangi whether the government was aware of cyber fraud involving fake e-challans.
Kumar, however, said that total of more than Rs 11,158 crore has been saved in more than 3.28 million complaints till June 30, 2026, citing data from the Citizen Financial Cyber Fraud Reporting and Management System (CFCFRMS).
What Is CFCFRMS?
CFCFRMS is a digital portal for reporting financial cyber fraud. It was launched in 2021 under the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) for immediate reporting of financial frauds and to prevent siphoning of funds by fraudsters.
What Is I4C?
I4C was established as a scheme in 2018 to develop a framework for prevention, investigation, and prosecution of cybercrime, but on July 1, 2024, it was set up as an attached office of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to work beyond creating a framework. I4C now focuses on issues related to cybercrime and is responsible for coordinating between various law enforcement agencies, spreading awareness about cybercrimes, and building stakeholders’ capacity to deal with such crimes.
It is notable that the number of financial cybercrimes is so high that the MHA has created a separate portal for reporting and managing such frauds.
Besides establishing CFCFRMS, I4C also launched a Suspect Registry on September 10, 2024, to identify cybercriminals beforehand and block them from the system. The registry, prepared in collaboration with banks and financial institutions, identifies cybercriminals using various identifiers. As of mid 2026, it has received over 3.05 million suspect identifier data from banks and identified 3.21 million layer 1 mule accounts. According to the government, the proactive sharing of data has helped in blocking transactions worth Rs 25,698 crore.
As fraudsters are increasingly using mule accounts to transfer the funds received through scams, tracing all these accounts with different banks makes the investigation process time-consuming and complex.
Notably, I4C has also advised people not to share personal and banking information with unknown people, and also has a Suspect Registry mechanism in place to filter suspicious accounts. Nevertheless, cybercrime is still happening in more sophisticated ways, using a mix of tricks, persuasion, and sometimes impersonation.
Here’s how the cybercrime response works when a complaint is lodged.
How Does National Cybercrime Response Work?
NCRP is the parent portal for lodging any cyber complaint, whether it is a financial cyber fraud, a woman- and child-related cybercrime, or any other cybercrime. Once a complaint is lodged on the NCRP portal, the information can be accessed by the law enforcement agencies of relevant states or Union Territories. Once they have the information about the incident, they manage the conversion of the report into an FIR, investigation, filing of a chargesheet, and arrest, where required.
To maintain uniformity regarding how a complaint is handled, MHA has also issued a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for the NCRP-CFCFRMS. It covers everything from bank coordination to the recovery of defrauded funds and restoration to the rightful owners.
Notably, two new modules of the SOP, the Money Restoration Module and the Grievance Redressal Module, which are about expediting the freezing of accounts and the return of stolen money, became functional in April 2026.
The mechanism is in place to prevent cyber fraud and nab cybercriminals, but citizens also need to be aware of how to report the crime directly on CFCFRMS in case they fall victim to financial cyber fraud.
How To Report A Financial Cyber Crime?
One can call the toll-free helpline number 1930 to seek guidance or report a crime. The complaint can also be lodged online directly on the CFCFRMS, and an acknowledgment can be printed.
Here is the step-by-step process to lodge a formal complaint online.
Access The Portal - Visit the official portal at www.cybercrime.gov.in
Initiate The Complaint – under the ‘Register a Complaint’ tab, select ‘Financial Fraud’. On the next screen, click ‘Register a Complaint > File a Complaint’ and click ‘I Accept’ after going through the terms and conditions.
Login Details – Select your State, provide email ID and mobile number. Click ‘Get OTP’ and enter the code received on your phone; then enter the captcha and click ‘Submit’
Provide Incident Data – Select the appropriate category and sub-category of the complaint from the list. Then, provide the specific incident details, suspect details, and complainant information
Review And Submit – Once all the details are filled, click ‘Preview & Submit’ to recheck the details, make the changes if needed, and click ‘Confirm & Submit’ once you agree to the declaration
Confirmation – Upon submission, a ‘Complaint ID’ will be displayed on the screen and will also be sent by email and SMS. The PDF of the complaint can also be downloaded for personal records and future reference.
After the complaint is submitted, law enforcement agencies will check it and a designated police officer will verify the matter and report it to the concerned bank or financial intermediary to block the money involved. This system will further help, as police can take legal action against cybercriminals to recover the funds.
