How to File a Cyber Crime Complaint in Pakistan under PECA (FIA / NCCIA)

If someone is harassing you online, threatening to share your pictures, impersonating you with a fake account or has taken your money through an online scam, the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act, 2016 (PECA) gives you a way to respond. This guide explains what to preserve, where and how to complain now that the FIA Cyber Crime Wing has been replaced, and what follows, including what to do if the complaint is against you.

FIA or NCCIA: who takes the complaint now

Many people still search for how to make an FIA cyber crime complaint, but the FIA no longer handles these matters. The Prevention of Electronic Crimes (Amendment) Act, 2025 provided for a dedicated National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) to inquire into, investigate and prosecute offences under PECA, and in April 2025 the FIA Cyber Crime Wing was dissolved and its work, including pending cases, passed to the NCCIA.

The NCCIA takes complaints through its online portal, the Pakistan Citizen's Portal and its Cyber Crime Reporting Centres. Before you file, check the agency's official website, nccia.gov.pk (opens in a new tab), for the current portal, and be wary of anyone who asks for money to register a complaint.

What counts as a cyber crime under PECA

The offences people most often report under PECA are these:

• Unauthorised access (sections 3 to 8): getting into someone's phone, email, social media or computer without permission, or copying or interfering with their data.
• Electronic forgery (section 13): inputting, altering or deleting data so that false data is treated as genuine, to cause loss or commit fraud.
• Electronic fraud (section 14): using an information system or data, or deceiving someone, for wrongful gain, as with fake sellers, bogus bank calls and investment scams.
• Unauthorised use of identity information (section 16): using another person's identity information without authorisation, including fake profiles and misuse of CNIC details.
• Offences against dignity (section 20): publicly posting information known to be false that intimidates you or harms your reputation or privacy.
• Offences against modesty (section 21): sharing sexually explicit images or videos of a person, putting someone's face on such material, or using it to threaten or blackmail.
• Cyber stalking (section 24): to coerce, intimidate or harass, contacting you repeatedly despite a clear refusal, monitoring your communications, spying on you in a way that causes fear or distress, or distributing your picture or video without consent to harm you.

Which section applies and where to report

Use this as a starting point; one complaint can cite several sections.

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In a cyber crime case, the evidence is the case. Save it before you block, report or confront anyone.

Preserve the evidence first

Online evidence disappears quickly: accounts are deleted, messages unsent and posts edited. Before anything else, save:

• Screenshots showing the content with the account name, the profile link or URL, and the date and time. Copy the full link into a note as well.
• The original messages on the original device. Do not reset, sell or replace the phone, or delete chats after capturing them.
• For fraud, the transaction IDs, the account or wallet numbers the money went to, and the numbers that called or messaged you.
• The names of anyone who received or saw the material; they may be witnesses.

Write a short, dated timeline; it becomes the backbone of your complaint. Then report promptly: service providers must keep traffic data for at least a year, after which the trail can go cold.

How to file a cyber crime complaint

1. 1

   Organise the evidence

   Put the screenshots, links and transaction records in date order with your timeline, and leave the original device untouched.

2. 2

   Write the complaint

   State who you are, what happened and when, the accounts or links involved and the harm caused. Name the PECA sections that apply, refer to each piece of evidence, and sign and date the complaint. A focused complaint is easier for the inquiry officer to act on than a long narrative.

3. 3

   Lodge it with the NCCIA

   You or your advocate can submit it through the NCCIA's online portal or the Pakistan Citizen's Portal, or at an NCCIA reporting centre, with a copy of your CNIC. Keep the complaint number for every follow-up.

4. 4

   Ask for the content to be removed

   At the same time, report the content to the platform and apply for removal, as explained below. A takedown does not replace the complaint.

5. 5

   Join the inquiry

   The inquiry officer may call you to record a statement or examine your device. Attend on the date given, keep copies of what you hand over, and ask for a receipt for anything retained.

Documents you will need

• Your CNIC copy, or a guardian's if the person affected is a minor
• The written complaint, signed and dated
• Screenshots or printouts showing the content, account name, link and date
• The device and SIM that received the messages
• For fraud: bank or wallet statements and transaction IDs
• Links to the profiles or posts, and any phone numbers or email addresses used
• References of any earlier complaint or platform report
• For a business: an authority letter or board resolution for the person filing

What happens after you file

The complaint is first examined in an inquiry: the officer verifies your evidence and asks platforms, banks and telecom companies for records showing who is behind an account or transaction. Most PECA offences are non-cognizable, so the agency needs the court's permission to proceed with them; offences under section 21 are cognizable, and the agency can act on them directly.

If the inquiry supports the complaint, a case is registered and investigated. Devices may be seized under a court warrant for forensic examination, and the case is tried by a court designated under section 44 of PECA, where you will usually give evidence.

Most PECA offences are bailable and compoundable: an accused person is entitled to bail, and the parties can settle the case through the court. Offences under section 21 are neither. If a complaint stalls, your advocate can pursue it with the agency's senior officers or the court.

If a notice has been issued to you

If the NCCIA has sent you a notice to appear in an inquiry, take it seriously, but do not panic. Check whether you are called to give information or as the person complained against, and speak to an advocate before the date. Your advocate can attend with you, prepare a written reply with documents, and advise on producing a device or account records. If the complaint is a pressure tactic in a family or business dispute, that belongs in the reply.

Do not ignore the notice, delete posts without advice, or contact the complainant to settle privately; messages sent after a notice often end up in the file. If a case is registered, bail comes first: see our criminal defence practice and our guide to bail in Pakistan.

Removal of content and the civil route

Takedown through the platform and the PTA

A criminal case takes time, so pursue removal in parallel:

• Report the post, profile or image through the platform's own tools, under the category that fits, such as impersonation or intimate images shared without consent.
• Apply for blocking or removal under PECA. Section 37 empowers the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) to remove or block unlawful online content, and sections 20 and 21 let the person affected apply for removal. The 2025 amendment also created a Social Media Protection and Regulatory Authority, constituted in 2026, to regulate social media content, so check which body is taking such requests when you apply.
• Tell the inquiry officer about every removal request, so the underlying records are preserved.

A civil suit for defamation

Where false statements online have damaged your reputation, a suit for damages under the Defamation Ordinance, 2002 can run alongside the criminal complaint, which does not itself compensate you. Its time limits are strict: written notice must be given to the other side within two months of your learning of the publication, and the suit filed within six months. Punjab has also enacted the Punjab Defamation Act, 2024, which provides for defamation tribunals and has been challenged in the Lahore High Court, so settle the choice of forum with your advocate early.

Timelines and costs

Timelines depend mostly on how quickly records can be obtained. The inquiry commonly takes several weeks to a few months, longer where the account is run from abroad or a platform is slow to respond. Investigation and forensic reports add further months, and a trial often takes a year or more. Platform takedowns can be much faster, sometimes within days.

Costs depend on the stage and the work involved, from the complaint and inquiry to bail, trial or a civil suit. Professional fees are confirmed in writing at the start.

Common mistakes

• Paying or bargaining with a blackmailer.
• Blocking or confronting the person before saving the evidence. The account may vanish, and the proof with it.
• Cropped screenshots that show a message but not the account name, link or date.
• Paying private "hackers" to trace or delete an account. It is often a second fraud.
• A vague complaint that names no sections and attaches the evidence out of order.
• Ignoring a notice, or contacting the complainant, when the complaint is against you.

When to speak to an advocate

Speak to an advocate as soon as the evidence is saved or a notice arrives, and before you file if the matter involves intimate images, a significant financial loss, a business account or someone you know. The sections chosen, the way the evidence is presented and the parallel removal requests all shape the inquiry. Read more about our cyber crime and PECA practice, or book a consultation to go through the evidence with us in confidence.