A scary letter or message doesn't have to stay scary. Here's how a genuine Indian legal notice looks, the signs of a fake — and a free automated check that reads yours for you.
India is in the middle of a scam wave built on fear of the law: fake "digital arrest" video calls from imposter police and CBI officers, loan-app recovery agents sending fabricated court threats, and WhatsApp messages dressed up as legal notices demanding instant payment. The scripts work because most people have never received a real legal notice and don't know what one looks like. The good news: fakes are usually easy to spot once you know the signals.
One rule beats every script: no real legal process in India demands money over a phone call, to a UPI ID, or within hours. Anyone doing that is telling you what they are.
A named advocate with an enrolment number
Genuine legal notices are sent by an advocate on their letterhead, with their full name and Bar Council enrolment number. A notice with no identifiable, verifiable sender is a serious warning sign.
A real office address and contact details
The letterhead carries a physical office address and a phone number or email you can independently look up — not just a mobile number that only works on WhatsApp.
Specific facts, a specific demand, a reply window
A real notice describes what happened, what the sender wants, and gives you a stated number of days to respond (commonly 15 or 30). It is the start of a negotiation — not a countdown to arrest.
Court documents carry case numbers
If a document claims to come from a court, it carries a case number and usually a CNR number you can verify yourself on the official eCourts portal. A "court order" with no case number is not a court order.
Demands payment to a UPI ID or wallet
No genuine legal notice asks you to settle a legal matter by paying a personal UPI ID, wallet, or gift card. Courts and advocates do not collect money this way.
Threatens arrest within hours
"Pay in 2 hours or police will arrest you" is a scam script. Arrest doesn't work like that — a legal notice is a letter, and even a real court process gives you time and a hearing.
No sender you can verify
No advocate name, no enrolment number, no office address — or a name that returns nothing when you search the state Bar Council rolls.
Pressure to stay on a call and keep it secret
The "digital arrest" scam keeps you on a video call with fake police/CBI/customs officers and tells you not to talk to anyone. There is no such thing as a digital arrest in Indian law. Real police do not arrest you over video call, and never demand money to cancel an arrest.
Threats to shame you to your contacts
Loan-app recovery threats — morphed photos, messages to your family and colleagues — are harassment tactics, not legal process. See our loan-app harassment guide for what to do.
Getting loan-app threats specifically? Read our loan-app harassment guide — those messages are threats, not legal notices, and there's a clear playbook.
Upload a photo or paste the text. In about a minute you'll know what it is, how urgent it is, and whether it shows fraud markers — with the evidence shown.
No signup. No payment. Legal information, not legal advice.
A legal notice, a court summons, and a court order are three very different documents with three very different levels of urgency. If yours looks genuine, the next question is which one you're holding — see notice vs summons vs court order, explained in plain language.
Upload a photo or paste the text. In about a minute you'll know what it is, how urgent it is, and whether it shows fraud markers — with the evidence shown.
No signup. No payment. Legal information, not legal advice.
Agreements.co.in provides legal information, not legal advice. The free check reports authenticity signals and shows you the evidence — it never certifies a document as genuine or fake, and it is not a substitute for a lawyer. For advice on your specific situation, consult a qualified advocate.