Fake Government Scheme Websites: How to Spot the Real Portal

The safest way to reach the official application portal for a government loan or subsidy is to start from a government source, such as india.gov.in, myscheme.gov.in or the ministry's own website, and never from a search ad, YouTube description or WhatsApp forward. The clearest sign of a fake site is a request for money to "register", "approve" or "release" a scheme benefit: official portals for schemes like PM SVANidhi, PM Vishwakarma, PMEGP and PM-KUSUM charge nothing to apply.

Fake scheme sites copy the Ashoka emblem, use names like "pmyojana-gov.online", and send official-looking approval letters. This guide shows how to check a site, lists the real portals for common schemes (as of October 2026), and tells you exactly what to do if you have already paid.

Who gets targeted

• Small business owners and street vendors looking for collateral-free loans
• Farmers looking for solar pump, machinery or crop subsidies
• Students looking for scholarships and laptops
• Job seekers, through fake "recruitment under PM scheme" sites
• Older people and first-time internet users who search "yojana apply online" and click the first link

Real cases flagged by the government

The pattern repeats: a scheme name that sounds real, an upfront fee, a deadline to create panic, and a domain that is not the ministry's.

How to identify the official portal: 7 checks

1. Find the address from a trusted source. Open the scheme page on myScheme or india.gov.in, or a PIB press release, and use the link given there. For loan schemes, JanSamarth (jansamarth.in) is the government's common portal for several credit-linked schemes.
2. Read the domain from right to left. In pmkusum.mnre.gov.in the real domain is gov.in. In pmkusum.gov.in.apply-now.online, the real domain is apply-now.online, which anyone can buy.
3. Know what .gov.in means. The .gov.in zone is registered by NIC, and its guidelines limit it to central and state ministries, departments, their offices and local governments. A site ending in .com, .org, .online, .in or .co.in is not automatically fake, but treat it with suspicion unless the ministry itself links to it.
4. Ignore search ads and look-alikes. Scammers buy ads for "PM yojana apply". Scroll past "Sponsored" results and check the address bar, not the page logo.
5. Look for payment demands. Any page that asks for a registration fee, "file charge", GST, stamp duty or insurance before approval is a red flag for a government scheme.
6. Check the contact details. Official portals give a toll-free number or ministry email (ending in gov.in or nic.in). A personal mobile number or a Gmail address is a warning sign.
7. Verify with PIB Fact Check. Search factcheck.pib.gov.in, or send the link on WhatsApp to +91 8799711259. The unit covers matters relating to the Government of India and charges no fee.

Official portals for common schemes (as of October 2026)

Notice that a few genuine portals, such as jansamarth.in and cgtmse.in, are not on .gov.in. That is why the first check, getting the address from a government page, matters more than the ending alone.

What a genuine loan process looks like

Under credit-linked schemes, the bank decides the loan, not a website. The portal only records your application and sends it to a bank. You will be asked for KYC and business documents, and the bank may charge processing fees under its own rules, disclosed in a sanction letter and the Key Fact Statement. You will never be asked to pay into a personal UPI ID or an individual's bank account to get a loan "approved". Our guide on fake loan app fraud covers lending apps, which follow a similar playbook.

Worked example: how the fees add up

A tailor in Surat finds "PM Mudra Loan Yojana Online Apply" on a sponsored link and fills in a form for a ₹5 lakh loan. Illustrative but typical of reported cases:

• "Registration fee": ₹1,450
• "File charge and stamp duty" after an "approval letter": ₹6,550
• "Insurance and GST" before "disbursal": ₹11,800
• Total paid: ₹1,450 + ₹6,550 + ₹11,800 = ₹19,800

No loan arrives. Each new fee is the scammer's test of whether you will pay again. Had he applied through a bank for the same loan, he would have paid no "approval" fee, only any processing charge stated by the bank in writing. Use our EMI calculator to check what a real ₹5 lakh loan would cost each month.

What to do if you already paid

In the first hour

1. Call 1930 (national cyber crime helpline) and report the amount, UPI ID or account and time. Fast reporting gives the best chance of money being held.
2. Inform your bank through its official app or customer care and block any card or UPI details you shared.

On the same day

3. File a complaint at cybercrime.gov.in with screenshots of the site, receipts, chats and the "approval letter". Note the acknowledgement number.
4. Change passwords and UPI PIN if you entered them anywhere, and check for unknown apps if you installed anything.
5. Report the message that brought you to the site on Sanchar Saathi's Chakshu facility, and send the site link to PIB Fact Check.

Later

6. Follow up with the police station that takes up the complaint. Our cyber fraud money recovery and UPI scam guides explain the recovery process.

What not to do

• Do not pay a "release fee" to get your first fee back. That is the next stage of the same scam.
• Do not share OTPs, Aadhaar biometrics or UPI PINs with anyone helping you "apply".
• Do not trust official-looking letters with the emblem and a minister's photo; scammers make them in minutes.
• Do not call numbers from the fake site to "verify" it.
• Do not let an agent keep your passbook, Aadhaar or ATM card. Use a common service centre and ask for a receipt for any service charge.

Key takeaways

• Get the official portal address from myScheme, india.gov.in, the ministry site or a PIB release, not from ads or forwards.
• Read the domain from the right; .gov.in and .nic.in are government-only, but a few real portals use other domains.
• Applying for central loan and subsidy schemes is free; any fee for "approval" is a scam sign.
• Banks, not websites, sanction scheme loans.
• If you paid, call 1930 within the hour and file at cybercrime.gov.in.