Cybercrime Law Guide | Kolkata
How to Prepare a Cybercrime Complaint in Kolkata
A useful cybercrime complaint states what happened, preserves the original digital trail, identifies immediate risks, and directs the matter to the appropriate portal, bank, platform, or police channel without delay.
Important: This is general legal information. Call 112 for immediate physical danger. For financial cyber fraud, the Government of India promotes prompt reporting through 1930 and the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal.
Act first where money or safety is at risk
For a recent unauthorised transfer, contact the bank or payment provider immediately, preserve the complaint number, and report financial cyber fraud through 1930 or the official portal. Do not wait to finish a perfect evidence file before taking time-sensitive steps. For threats, stalking, coercion, or danger, contact the police and address physical safety first.
Build a clear incident summary
Start with a one-page chronology: date and time, platform or transaction channel, what the complainant did, what the suspected person or account did, the amount or harm, and the next event. Use factual language. Separate confirmed information from assumptions about identity, location, motive, or ownership of an account.
Evidence checklist
- Identity and contact details of the complainant
- Phone numbers, email addresses, usernames, profile URLs, domains, and account identifiers involved
- Screenshots showing context, date, time, sender, and platform
- Original emails, message exports, call logs, audio, video, and files where lawfully held
- Bank statements, transaction IDs, UPI references, card details with sensitive digits redacted from public copies, and payment-provider responses
- Platform reports, bank complaints, portal acknowledgements, and police diary or complaint references
- A list of devices and accounts that may have been compromised
Write the complaint around conduct, not guessed sections
Explain the deception, unauthorised access, threat, impersonation, publication, extortion, harassment, or transaction in ordinary language. Different facts may engage the Information Technology Act, current criminal law, banking procedures, contractual rights, or other statutes. Incorrectly listing offences is less useful than accurately describing the evidence and harm.
Preserve the digital trail
Keep original devices and files where possible. Avoid deleting the conversation immediately, editing screenshots, resetting a device before securing records, forwarding intimate material, or repeatedly engaging with the suspected person. Record who collected each item and where the original is stored. Change compromised credentials from a safe device and enable stronger account security.
Track the complaint after filing
Save every acknowledgement and follow-up communication. Note any request for further documents, bank response, platform preservation request, or transfer of the complaint. If the matter includes more than one element—such as fraud plus account compromise or harassment—organise the evidence under separate headings while preserving the common timeline.
Official routes and focused help
File through the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal where appropriate and review the Information Technology Act, 2000 on India Code.
If the incident involves loss of control over a genuine social profile, use the focused Instagram or Facebook account takeover guide.
Official-source review completed 3 September 2026.
