‘Beware of fake summons issued under PMLA, FEMA, Digital Arrests, check their authenticity first’; releases steps-ED
Kanwar Inder Singh/ royalpatiala.in News/ October 9,2025
During the course of investigation, summons are issued by the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) under the provisions of section 50(2) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA) and section 37 of Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 (FEMA).
However, multiple instances have come to the notice of the Directorate of Enforcement wherein certain “unscrupulous” persons (conman) have sent summons to individuals with the motive of cheating or extortion. These fake summons are often similar to the genuine summons issued by ED and hence, it is difficult for the individuals to distinguish between the fake and genuine summons.
- In order to allow the individuals to verify the authenticity of the summons received by them, the Directorate of Enforcement has implemented a mechanism of generating summons through the system which bears QR code and a unique Passcode at the bottom of the summons.
Officials of ED have been instructed to issue summons only through the system except in certain exceptional circumstances. 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 his/her official email id and the phone number for correspondence purpose.
- The receiver of the summons can verify the authenticity of the summons by following any of the two procedures mentioned below-
(i) Verification by scanning QR code: The following steps are required to be followed for verification of the authenticity of the system generated summons by scanning the QR code
(ii) Verification by entering details of summons: The following steps are required to be followed for verification of the authenticity of the system generated summons by entering the details of summons on the official website of ED
4. Verification of the authenticity of the system generated summons can be done after 24 hours of summons issuing date (excluding public holidays, Saturdays and Sundays).
- The summons which could not be generated through system can be verified by contacting the designated point of contact over telephone or email as per details given below Description Details
Name of contact person Sh. Rahul Verma
Designation Assistant Director
Address Directorate of Enforcement (ED), A – Block, Pravartan
Bhawan, APJ Kalam Road, New Delhi – 110011
Email ID adinv2-ed[at]gov[dot]in
Phone No. 011-23339172
- Further, it is noticed that scammers are defrauding the common public in the name of Digital Arrest by showing fake arrest orders issued by Law Enforcement Agencies including ED and impersonating as ED officers. It is reiterated that arrests made by ED are done after following due procedure and are done physically in person. There is no concept of Digital Arrest or Online Arrest under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002.
- ED reaffirms its commitment to dismantle fraudulent practices and advises the public not to fall prey to fraudsters impersonating Enforcement Directorate officers.
