Fake website using your business name in Delhi? Know the laws, how to file a complaint and the legal remedies to shut it down and stop identity fraud.

A customer calls your shop in Delhi and says, “I paid you through your website, but nothing arrived.” You have never taken that order. Somebody has copied your logo, your product photos and even your address, and is using a fake website to collect money in your name. This is business identity fraud, and it damages two people at once: the customer who loses money and the business whose name is used.

Delhi courts have been dealing with such cases in large numbers, from fake dealership and franchise websites to fake job portals using a company’s name. As advocates, we explain here how fake website fraud works, what legal remedies are available to a Delhi business, and what to do in the first hours.

What Is a Fake Website and Business Identity Fraud?

Business identity fraud means using another business’s name, logo, trademark, registration details or reputation to deceive the public. A fake website is the most common tool, and it appears in many forms:

• Cloned website: An exact copy of your site, with the same design and content, but with the criminal’s payment details.
• Look-alike domain: A web address with one letter changed, a different extension (.net instead of .com) or an added word like “dealership” or “careers”.
• Fake franchise, dealership or distributorship pages: Public members are told to pay registration or security fees to become your dealer.
• Fake job or recruitment portals: Candidates pay “process fees” for jobs that do not exist.
• Fake social media pages and listings: Cloned Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp or Google business profiles that advertise your products.
• Fake registration or documents: Forged GST, MSME or company certificates used to win trust.
• Impersonation emails and invoices: Mails from a copied domain asking your customers or vendors to pay into a different account.

How It Harms Your Business and the Warning Signs

The damage goes well beyond lost sales:

• Customers cheated in your name stop trusting you and may file complaints against you.
• Your goodwill and search ranking suffer when a fake site appears next to the real one.
• Payments, deposits or application fees are diverted to the fraudster.
• Staff and vendors are misled by fake emails from a copied domain.
• You may face police notices or consumer complaints for something you never did.

Watch for these warning signs:

• Customers or job seekers mention a payment you never received.
• A search for your brand shows a similar address, an ad or a social media page you did not create.
• Your sales or enquiries fall suddenly, while complaints rise.
• Someone sends you screenshots of a “dealer registration” or “offer letter” in your name.
• Your website shows up on a domain you do not own.

Set up a simple monitoring habit: search your brand name every week, and check new domains and social pages that use it.

Laws That Protect Your Business Identity

India has no single law on fake website fraud. Instead, several laws work together:

Law or rule	How it helps
Trade Marks Act, 1999, Section 29	Infringement of a registered trademark, including its use in a domain name or on a website
Trade Marks Act, Section 27(2) and passing off	Protection of goodwill even for an unregistered name, against a business passing itself off as yours
Trade Marks Act, Section 135	Civil remedies: injunction, damages and account of profits
Copyright Act, 1957	Protection of your website content, product photographs, logo artwork and text from copying
IT Act, 2000, Sections 66C and 66D	Fraudulent use of identity, and cheating by personation using a computer resource
IT Act, Section 43 and 66	Unauthorised access or tampering, where your own site or accounts were hacked
BNS Sections 318 and 319	Cheating, and cheating by personation
BNS Section 336	Forgery, including forged electronic records and documents
IT Act, Section 69A and the IT Rules	Government blocking of unlawful sites and platform duties to remove content
INDRP and UDRP	Domain dispute processes for .in domains and for .com and other domains, which can lead to transfer or cancellation

In December 2025 the Delhi High Court issued detailed directions in a batch of domain-name fraud cases, including mandatory e-KYC for domain registrations, limits on automatic privacy masking and the duty of registrars to suspend infringing domains on a court order.

What to Do First and How to Preserve Evidence

Speed and a clean evidence file make every later step easier.

1. Capture the fake website: Take full-page screenshots with the date and the web address visible, and save the page as PDF. Do not just save the link, because the site may vanish.
2. Record domain details: Note the domain name, registrar and registration date from a public WHOIS lookup, and the hosting provider if visible.
3. Save payment trails: Keep UPI IDs, bank account numbers, QR codes and phone numbers shown on the fake site, and any customer payment proofs.
4. Collect victim evidence: Ask affected customers for screenshots, chats, receipts and call logs, and note their willingness to support a complaint.
5. Prove your own rights: Keep your trademark registration or application, GST and business registration, domain ownership proof, and original website and design files with dates.
6. Warn your customers. Put a notice on your real website, social pages and WhatsApp business status giving your only genuine web address and payment details.
7. Do not contact the fraudster or pay anyone offering to “remove” the site, as this often leads to a second fraud.

Your advocate can then prepare a certificate for electronic evidence under Section 63 of the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023, so that the screenshots stand up in court.

Cyber Crime Complaint in Delhi, Step by Step

A cyber crime complaint in Delhi against a fake website can be filed in more than one place:

1. Helpline 1930 and cybercrime.gov.in. Report the fraud with the domain name, payment details and screenshots. If customers lost money, ask them to report too, as the helpline alerts banks to hold funds.
2. Delhi Police cyber units. Delhi has a Cyber Police Station in each police district, and the IFSO unit handles larger and complex cyber cases. Fake dealership and franchise frauds are usually investigated here.
3. FIR. Insist on an FIR naming the sections under the BNS, the IT Act and, where relevant, the Trade Marks Act and Copyright Act that match your facts.
4. Report to the registrar and host. Send an abuse complaint with proof to the domain registrar and the hosting company. Delhi High Court directions now require registrars to appoint grievance officers.
5. Report to platforms. Use the in-app reporting tools of Google, Meta, WhatsApp and the app stores, and quote your trademark rights.
6. Complaint to the bank or payment gateway where the fake account or UPI ID is used, so that it can be flagged and frozen through the police.
7. If the police do not act, send a written complaint to the senior police officer of the district and, if needed, approach the Magistrate under the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023.

A police complaint is useful for tracing money and arresting the operators, but it does not by itself shut down the website quickly. That is why many businesses also approach the civil court, as described below.

Legal Remedies for a Delhi Business

The legal remedies against business identity fraud run on several tracks:

• Civil suit in the Delhi High Court: A commercial suit for trademark infringement, passing off and copyright infringement, with an urgent application for an interim injunction. The court can hear fraud cases against unknown operators, and it has granted such orders in 2025 and 2026 in cases about fake dealership, franchise and job websites.
• Domain suspension: In recent orders the Delhi High Court has directed domain registrars to lock and suspend fake domains, in some cases within 36 hours of the order, and to disclose the registrant and payment details.
• Dynamic and dynamic-plus injunctions: For repeat offenders who keep registering new look-alike domains, the court can allow the owner to extend the order to new domains by filing an affidavit, without starting a fresh suit each time. This is more readily available to owners of strong or invented marks.
• Bank account and fund orders: In serious cases the court can order banks to disclose account details and place a lien on funds.
• Damages and account of profits: Compensation for the loss of reputation and revenue, and recovery of the fraudster’s gains, against defendants who are identified.
• Domain dispute process: A complaint under INDRP for .in domains, or under UDRP for .com and similar domains, can lead to transfer or cancellation of the domain, usually faster and cheaper than a suit.
• Criminal prosecution: An FIR under the BNS and IT Act, and under the Trade Marks Act and Copyright Act where applicable.
• Legal notice and takedown notices: A notice from an advocate to the operator, host, registrar and platforms often removes content quickly.
• Government blocking: The authorities can block unlawful websites and apps under Section 69A of the IT Act, which is usually used in larger cases.

Which route fits depends on how serious and fast-moving the fraud is. In urgent cases we usually combine a police complaint, takedown notices and a civil injunction application.

How to Protect Your Business Brand Online

Most fake website fraud is easier to stop if you prepare in advance. As a cyber advocate in Delhi, our advice is:

• Register your trademark. A registered mark makes court action faster and stronger. Unregistered goodwill can still be protected, but proving it takes more effort.
• Secure your main domain and buy the obvious variations: other extensions, common misspellings and “careers” or “dealer” versions.
• Turn on domain lock and multi-factor authentication for your registrar and hosting accounts.
• Show your official details clearly: Publish your genuine website, payment account details and recruitment process, and state that you never take fees for jobs or dealerships.
• Verify your business profiles on Google, Instagram and Facebook, so that fakes are easier to prove and report.
• Protect your email domain with SPF, DKIM and DMARC settings, so that spoofed mail is harder to send in your name.
• Watch the web: Run regular searches, set alerts for your brand name and check new domains similar to yours.
• Keep an evidence folder with registration papers, logo and design files, first-use dates and invoices, ready for an urgent court filing.
• Prepare a one-page action plan with the contacts of your advocate, IT team and bank, so that nobody loses time when a fake appears.

A brand protected on paper is a brand that courts can protect quickly.

Common Mistakes and Questions

These mistakes most often make a business identity fraud case harder:

• Waiting for “a few more complaints” before acting, while the fake site keeps collecting money.
• Saving only a link, not screenshots, so that the proof disappears when the site is taken down.
• Contacting the fraudster, or paying a “removal agent”.
• Not warning customers publicly, so more people pay the fake account.
• Having no trademark proof or domain records ready when urgent court relief is needed.

Can I get a fake website shut down quickly? Often yes. An urgent injunction application in the Delhi High Court, together with takedown notices to the registrar, host and platforms, can lead to suspension within days in strong cases.

Do I need a registered trademark? It helps a great deal, but unregistered businesses can also act under passing off if they can show goodwill and the fraudster’s deception.

What if the fraudster is abroad or unknown? Delhi courts have granted orders against unknown operators, and the registrar can be ordered to disclose registration and payment details. Recovery of money depends on tracing the accounts.

Can customers cheated by the fake site blame my business? Customers may first complain against your name. Prompt notices to the public, complaints to the police and court orders help show that you are the victim.

Is it better to file a police complaint or a civil suit? Often both. The police complaint helps trace money and people, while the civil suit is usually faster at shutting the fake site down.

Contact Us

If your business in Delhi is facing a fake website or business identity fraud and you need guidance on your legal remedies, you can reach us here:

• Website: https://cyberadvocateindelhi.in/
• Helpline: +91-8810659872

Disclaimer

This blog is published for educational and informational purposes only. It is not an advertisement or solicitation, and it is not a substitute for legal advice on your specific facts.