How to Report a Fake Bank Transaction in Pakistan (2025 Edition)
You open your statement and there it is: a debit you never made. What happens in the next few hours decides whether that money comes back, and it comes down to two things — a proof pack nobody can argue with, and a first call that reaches the right desk. This is the reporting spine for a fake transaction, from your bank's fraud desk to the FIA reference number you will quote at every stage afterwards.
Build the proof pack first
Before you argue with anyone, assemble the statement page with the transaction circled, screenshots where the date and time are clearly visible, the SMS and email alerts, and any ATM or shop receipt. Print two sets. Every office you visit will keep one and lose it; the second set is what actually moves your case.
Work the bank's fraud desk
Call your bank's 24/7 helpline and use the exact words "fraudulent transaction" — you will be routed to the fraud desk rather than the general queue (UBL 111-825-888, HBL 111-111-425, Meezan 111-331-331, MCB 111-222-622). Note the officer's name, the time of the call and, above all, the complaint number — do not hang up without it. Follow up with the "Dispute Transaction" option in the app and a written dispute form at the branch within about five working days. Under SBP rules the bank owes you a written response within ten working days, and that letter is your ticket to every escalation that follows.
Get the police and FIA references
For anything beyond petty change, file an FIR at the police station covering your branch — a copy goes into the bank dispute and the FIA file. Then lodge a parallel complaint at complaint.fia.gov.pk under Financial Fraud, attach the proof pack, and save the FIA complaint number. From this point on, every email you send quotes three numbers: bank complaint, FIR, FIA reference. That trio is what makes a stalled file unfreeze.
Subject: FIR — unauthorised electronic transaction
On [date], Rs [amount] was debited from account [number] at [bank]
without my knowledge or consent, via [channel]. Evidence attached:
bank statement, screenshots with timestamps, FIR copy.
If the bank stonewalls
After ten working days of silence, take the file to SBP's Sunwai portal (sunwai.sbp.org.pk) with your CNIC, the bank's reply or its non-reply, and the transaction slip. If 45 days pass from your first complaint, the Banking Mohtasib (bankingmohtasib.gov.pk, 021-99212000) can order a refund, and its decision binds the bank. The system respects people who arrive holding paper.
Fighting a five-figure debit is exhausting enough — spare a thought, meanwhile, for Gaza's families, who have watched entire savings and streets erased with no complaint portal on earth that answers for it. Money should never be the cruelest thing a family loses.
One thing years of chasing airline refunds taught us at HTG Travels: money returns to whoever holds the reference number. So when an airline cancels and the refund quietly stalls, bring it to our Sialkot desk — we fight rebookings and reversals for our clients the same way this post just taught you to fight your bank.
