Instagram fraud complaint in India: step-by-step filing

By Advocate Panchanand Shaw, Bar Council of West Bengal · Published 2 Nov 2026 · Online fraud

An Instagram fraud complaint in India is filed in three places, in a fixed order: inside the app, on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal, and at a police station under Section 173 of the BNSS, 2023. The offences are usually Sections 66, 66C and 66D of the IT Act, 2000, with Sections 318 and 319 of the BNS, 2023 for cheating and personation.

An Instagram fraud complaint in India is filed in three places, and the order is not optional housekeeping. You report the profile inside the app so that Meta can freeze it, you file on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal so that the transaction trail is preserved nationally, and you register a First Information Report at a police station under Section 173 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 so that an investigation actually begins. Skipping the first step loses the account. Skipping the second loses the money trail. Skipping the third leaves you with a complaint number and no case.

The offences charged in a typical Instagram fraud are Sections 66, 66C and 66D of the Information Technology Act, 2000, read with Sections 318 and 319 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023. Which of those is used depends less on how badly you were cheated and more on what the accused actually did with your identity, your account or your money.

What the law actually says

Section 66 of the IT Act covers computer-related offences: any person who dishonestly or fraudulently does an act referred to in Section 43 commits an offence punishable with imprisonment up to three years, or a fine up to five lakh rupees, or both. It is the provision used when somebody accesses your account, alters it, or uses a computer resource to cause you wrongful loss. It is broad, and it is the workhorse charge in account-takeover cases.

Section 66C is identity theft. It applies where a person fraudulently or dishonestly makes use of the electronic signature, password or any other unique identification feature of another person, and carries up to three years and a fine up to one lakh rupees. Section 66D is cheating by personation using a computer resource or communication device, with the same punishment. The practical distinction matters: 66C is about stealing the identity, 66D is about using it to deceive, and 66 is about the unauthorised access itself. A fake Instagram profile that collects money from your friends will ordinarily attract all three.

Where money is induced, the BNS supplies the substantive cheating offence. Section 318 defines cheating and punishes it, with the aggravated form for dishonestly inducing delivery of property carrying a longer term. Section 319 is cheating by personation. For conduct before 1 July 2024 the corresponding IPC provisions apply, because the BNS came into force on that date. Charging sheets in older matters still cite Sections 419 and 420 IPC, and that is correct for those facts, not an error.

The platform itself has separate obligations. Section 79 of the IT Act gives intermediaries a safe harbour only if they observe due diligence, and the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 require a grievance officer, acknowledgement of a complaint within twenty-four hours and disposal within fifteen days. That is why the in-app report is not merely a courtesy: it creates a dated record that the platform was put on notice, which is exactly what a court asks about later.

The complaint, in the order that works

Secure the account before you argue with anyone. If the fraudster still has access, change the password from a device that is already logged in, revoke sessions from the security settings, turn on two-factor authentication, and remove any unknown email or phone number from the account. If you are locked out, use the login help flow and report the account as hacked. Do this within the first hour if you can.
Preserve what you have, without editing it. Take screenshots that show the full screen, including the profile handle, the timestamp and the battery or network icons that prove the image was not cropped later. Screen-record the chat thread by scrolling slowly from the first message to the last. Save the profile URL, not just the display name, because display names change hourly and URLs do not.
Report the profile in the app. Use the three-dot menu on the profile, choose Report, then the category that matches the conduct: impersonation, scam or fraud, or pretending to be someone else. Reporting a post or a message has a different effect from reporting the account, and you usually need both. Note the report reference number if Instagram gives you one.
File on cybercrime.gov.in. Create a login, choose Report Cyber Crime, then the category for online financial fraud or social media crime as applicable. Upload the screenshots, the profile URL and, if money moved, the bank statement page showing the debit. Keep the acknowledgement number. For financial fraud you can also call the national helpline 1930, which is the fastest route to a request that the receiving account be flagged.
Tell your bank the same day if money moved. Call the number on the back of your card or the net banking helpline, report an unauthorised transaction, and ask for the dispute reference in writing by email. Do not accept a verbal assurance. The bank's nodal officer for cyber fraud sits behind that complaint, and the timeline for limiting your liability under the Reserve Bank of India's 2017 directions on customer protection runs from the date you notify, not the date you noticed.
Give a written complaint at the police station. Address it to the officer in charge, set out the facts in chronological order with dates and amounts, list the sections you believe apply, and attach a printed annexure of the evidence with a descriptive index. Ask for the FIR number and a certified copy. If the police treat it as a miscellaneous entry instead of an FIR, ask for that in writing, because the written refusal is the document you need for the next step.
If the police refuse to register, move to the magistrate. Under Section 175(3) of the BNSS, 2023 you may apply to the Magistrate with your complaint and the proof of refusal, and the Magistrate can direct an investigation. This is a routine application, not an escalation, and it is often the step that converts a closed file into a real case.
Follow up in writing, every time. A short email once a fortnight asking for the status, quoting the FIR number, keeps the file alive and builds a record. Investigating officers carry heavy loads, and the complainant who follows up gets called back.

The documents that decide whether the complaint moves

Most Instagram fraud complaints stall for a dull reason: the police cannot identify the accused from what was filed. The account is a string of digits, the payment went to a virtual address, and the screenshots do not show who was behind either. What moves a file is the material that lets an officer send a requisition to Meta India or to a bank and get a response with a name, an IP log or a KYC record attached.

The profile URL, the exact handle, and the numeric account ID visible in the page source or the share sheet.
Full screenshots and a continuous screen recording of the conversation, unedited and in original resolution.
Payment proof: UPI reference numbers, bank statement entries, wallet transaction IDs, and the beneficiary name as it appeared.
The advertisement, message or reel that brought you to the profile, with the date.
A written timeline of events, one page, in sequence, signed and dated.
Your identity proof and a signed complaint, so the officer has something to attach to the file.

Forum	What it can actually do	What it cannot do
Instagram in-app report	Remove the profile, preserve some records, suspend the account	Identify the person, recover money, or punish anyone
cybercrime.gov.in and 1930	Log the complaint nationally, trigger a bank freeze request, feed the suspect registry	Investigate your specific case on its own
Police station, Section 173 BNSS	Register an FIR, summon records from Meta and banks, arrest if the material supports it	Act quickly without identifiers or documents
Magistrate, Section 175(3) BNSS	Direct an investigation where the police have declined	Conduct the investigation itself
Civil court	Recover money, restrain further publication, grant damages	Punish the offender or compel a criminal investigation

What decides the outcome

The single biggest factor is whether the accused can be identified. A complaint that names a handle and a UPI ID gives an officer two requisitions to send. A complaint that says only that a profile cheated you gives him nothing to send. The second factor is speed: platform logs and payment records are retained for limited periods, and a requisition issued in the first fortnight regularly returns data that a requisition issued in the sixth month does not.

The third factor is the quality of your own record. Courts and investigating officers both discount screenshots that appear cropped, edited or reconstructed from memory. A continuous recording, made before you did anything else, is worth more than twenty neat images arranged afterwards. Under Section 63 of the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023, electronic records are admissible on production of the original device together with a certificate, so keep the phone or laptop on which the conversation happened and do not factory-reset it.

The fourth factor is consistency. Your complaint to Instagram, your complaint to the portal, your complaint to the bank and your FIR should tell the same story with the same dates. Investigators are trained to look for the gap between versions, and a discrepancy in the amount or the date is usually enough to park a file.

Finally, the amount and the nature of the loss shape the response. A few thousand rupees lost to a fake seller follows one track; a coordinated impersonation that harvested money from dozens of your contacts follows another, because it becomes a case about an organised racket rather than a single transaction. If other victims exist, say so and name them, with their consent.

Mistakes that quietly kill the complaint

Do not confront the fraudster. Warning him that you are going to the police is the fastest way to have the account deleted, the wallet drained and the trail closed. Do not send a fresh payment to test whether the account is live, and do not accept a partial refund on condition that you withdraw the complaint.

Do not clean up your phone. Deleting the chat because it is upsetting, clearing storage, or resetting the device removes the original record and leaves you with copies that are harder to prove. Do not post about the fraud publicly with the accused's photo and address either; if the identification turns out to be wrong, you have created a defamation exposure under Section 356 of the BNS for yourself.

Do not file only on the portal and assume it is a case. The portal is a routing mechanism. It does not register an FIR on its own, and the acknowledgement number is not an FIR number. Equally, do not file only at the police station and skip the app report, because the platform takedown is often the only thing that stops the fraud from spreading to the next hundred people.

When to involve a lawyer

A straightforward complaint with a clear payment trail can be filed by the victim. A lawyer becomes useful when the police decline to register and a Section 175(3) application is needed, when the accused is identifiable and you want the investigation to move past the first requisition, when the platform has sat on a grievance beyond the fifteen-day period, or when the same conduct exposes you to a counter-complaint. A cyber crime lawyer in Kolkata can draft the complaint so that it is charge-ready, and can appear before the Magistrate at Bankshall Court or approach the Calcutta High Court under Section 528 of the BNSS where a process is being abused. If you are still deciding whether your facts fit these sections at all, the general guide to cyber law remedies in India sets out the options before you spend money on either side.

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Frequently asked questions

Where do I file an Instagram fraud complaint in India?

You file in three places, in order: report the profile inside the Instagram app, file on cybercrime.gov.in or call 1930 if money moved, and give a written complaint at your police station for an FIR under Section 173 BNSS, 2023. Each step does something the others cannot: takedown, national logging, and investigation.

Which sections apply to Instagram fraud?

Sections 66, 66C and 66D of the IT Act, 2000 cover unauthorised access, identity theft and cheating by personation using a computer resource. Where money is induced, Sections 318 and 319 of the BNS, 2023 are added for cheating and cheating by personation. Conduct before 1 July 2024 is charged under the corresponding IPC sections.

Can police register an FIR for an Instagram fraud without the profile's real name?

Yes. The accused need not be named at the FIR stage, because the FIR records the accusation, not the identity. What the police need is the profile URL, the handle, payment references and screenshots, so that requisitions can be sent to Meta India and the bank. Identity is established later from those records.

What if the police refuse to register my complaint?

Ask for the refusal in writing, then apply to the Magistrate under Section 175(3) of the BNSS, 2023 with your complaint and that proof. The Magistrate can direct an investigation. This is a standard application, and it is the usual route when a station treats a cyber fraud as a civil money dispute.

How long does an Instagram fraud complaint take?

There is no statutory deadline for the investigation. The platform side is faster, with the 2021 Intermediary Rules requiring acknowledgement within twenty-four hours and disposal within fifteen days. Bank freeze requests through 1930 work best within seventy-two hours. The FIR and charge sheet follow the ordinary criminal timeline, often several months.

Can I get my money back after Instagram fraud?

Sometimes, and usually only if you move within hours or days. Recovery depends on the money still sitting in the beneficiary account when the freeze request lands. Under the RBI's 2017 directions on unauthorised electronic transactions, your liability also depends on how quickly you notified the bank.

Should I delete the fake profile or the chat after reporting?

No. Keep the account and the chat as they are, and keep the original device, because Section 63 of the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 requires the electronic record and a certificate for admissibility. Deleting the thread destroys the primary evidence and leaves you with copies that are easier to challenge.

Information for general guidance only and not legal advice. Provisions cited follow the Information Technology Act 2000, the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita 2023 and the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita 2023.

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