ED introduces QR-coded summons to protect citizens from fraudsters

The Enforcement Directorate has launched system-generated summons featuring QR codes and unique passcodes to curb fraudsters circulating fake notices. Citizens are urged to verify ED summons online and stay alert to avoid falling prey to digital arrest scams

New Delhi: In the light of reports of individuals circulating fake summons in the name of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for cheating or extorting money, the ED has introduced special measures to help citizens verify authenticity, according to a statement issued by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s office on Thursday.

These fake summons often resemble genuine ED notices, making them difficult to distinguish. To address this, ED now issues system-generated summons featuring a QR code and a unique passcode, the statement said.

---

Summons issued by the Enforcement Directorate can be verified using the QR code printed on them or by visiting the official ED website, the statement explained. “The ED does not conduct digital or online arrests. Citizens are advised to remain vigilant and not fall prey to fraudsters impersonating ED officials,” the X post added.

The statement comes amid continuing incidents of “digital arrests” used by fraudsters posing as police, customs, ED, CBI, and RBI officials to extort money from vulnerable citizens. ‘Police’ and ‘Public Order’ are State subjects as per the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution of India.

The States and UTs are primarily responsible for the prevention, detection, investigation, and prosecution of crimes, including cybercrime and digital arrest scams, through their Law Enforcement Agencies.

The Central Government supplements these initiatives through advisories and financial assistance under various schemes for capacity building of its law enforcement agencies, according to an official statement.

To strengthen the mechanism to deal with cyber crimes, including digital arrest scams, in a comprehensive and coordinated manner, the Ministry of Home Affairs has set up the ‘Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre’ (I4C) as an attached office to deal with all types of cybercrimes in the country, in a coordinated and comprehensive manner.

The Central Government has also launched a comprehensive awareness programme on digital arrest scams, which, inter alia, includes: newspaper advertisement, announcement in Delhi Metros, use of social media influencers to create special posts, campaign through Prasar Bharti, and electronic media.

Steps have also been taken to proactively identify and block more than 1700 Skype IDs and 59,000 WhatsApp accounts used for Digital Arrest. The government and Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) have devised a system to identify and block incoming international spoofed calls displaying Indian mobile numbers that appear to be originating within India.

Such international spoofed calls have been made by cyber-criminals in recent cases of fake digital arrests, FedEx scams, impersonation as government and police officials, etc. Directions have been issued to the TSPs for blocking of such incoming international spoofed calls, the statement added.