ED warns of fake summons scam: Know how to spot the impostors

Amid rising cases of scamsters issuing fake summons in the name of several anti-money laundering and anti-corruption agencies with the aim of cheating the general public, the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) on Wednesday issued a statement cautioning against such incidents.

It has been noticed that scammers are defrauding the common public in the name of digital arrest by showing fake arrest orders purportedly issued by law enforcement agencies, including the ED, and impersonating ED officers.

It is reiterated that arrests made by the ED are done after following due procedure and are conducted physically in person, official sources said.

There is no concept of digital arrest or online arrest under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, the ED clarified.

During the course of an investigation, summons are issued by the ED under the provisions of section 50(2) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA), and section 37 of the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 (FEMA).

“Multiple instances have come to the notice of the ED wherein certain ‘unscrupulous’ persons (conmen) have sent summons to individuals with the motive of cheating or extortion. These fake summons are often similar to genuine summons issued by the ED,” the anti-money laundering agency said in a statement.

In order to allow individuals to verify the authenticity of the summons they receive, the ED has implemented a mechanism of generating summons through a system that bears a QR code and a unique passcode at the bottom of the summons. Officials of the ED have been instructed to issue summons only through this system, except in certain exceptional circumstances, it informed.

It may also be noted that the summons generated from the system shall be duly signed and stamped by the official issuing the summons and shall also contain their official email ID and phone number for correspondence purposes, the statement said.

The receiver of the summons can verify its authenticity by scanning the QR code.

Verification of system-generated summons can also be done by entering the details of the summons on the official website of the ED.

Verification of the authenticity of the system-generated summons can be done 24 hours after the summons issuing date (excluding public holidays, Saturdays, and Sundays).

Summons that could not be generated through the system can be verified by contacting the designated point of contact via telephone or email.