We Received a Fake Cyber Crime Compliance Notice via Email; Here Is How We Identified It as a Scam
You must have heard a lot about the digital arrest scam, where a person imitates as if he is from an investigative agency and claims that some investigation is running against you. Further, they try to create a fake online arrest situation to extract money from the victim. Well, today we received a suspicious email claiming to be from the Cyber Crime Cell/Computer Center, and while we knew it was a scam, here is how we identified it.
Read more about it below.
Suspicious Cyber Crime Compliance Notice Email – How We Identified It as a Scam
The email had the subject “Cyber Crime Compliance Notice”, and the body of the email mentioned “Cyber Crime Cell/Computer Center Police Headquarters, MSO Building, JP Estate, New Delhi 1100” along with “Ref: No. 39724-34-01/ICB-IPHQ/2026”. All this was done to make it appear as if it was actually an official court order or government notice. Speaking more, the email claimed that our IP address (didn’t mention our IP address) was involved in “unlawful activities” and mentioned offences under the Information Technology Act, 2000.
Now here is how we identified it as a scam. First off, the email landed in our spam folder, and the email address from which it was sent was “[email protected]
”. Note here that the end of the domain shows “.jp”, which means that it is a Japanese domain. Even if there is going to be an Indian court order or cyber crime notice, it will definitely not be coming from a Japanese domain. Even more, when we checked the domain WHOIS information, it showed that the company name registered with it is “TOMUSOUYA CORPORATION”, and the registrant name was listed as “Yamashita, Norihiro”. Attached below is the complete information from the WHOIS info page.
The email also included urgency tactics like “Failure to respond within forty-eight (48) hours will result in immediate legal action without further notice, including penal proceedings under applicable laws.” This, by the way, is something scammers use to scare victims into replying or sharing confidential details with them. Also, at the end of the email message, it had the name “Ritambra Prakash (ACP/CB) For Deputy Commissioner of Police”, which, by the way, appears to be a real person’s name, but scammers can simply check such information online and add it to make the email look more authentic.
What did we do? Nothing. Simply ignore these types of emails and never reply to unsolicited emails, especially when they ask for personal details, money, documents, or urgent action. You can also report such cases to the nearest police station or cyber police station. Additionally, users can also file a report online through the official cyber crime portal.
In the end, when you are not sure, always check the domain from which the email has come. In most cases, it is usually a domain from outside India, and sometimes scammers may even use a “.in” domain to increase authenticity. Always verify before responding, and never share confidential information on such emails.
Stay vigilant and stay secure.
