UPSC Prelims 2026 'paper leak' is fake, says PIB Fact Check

Messages claiming that the UPSC Civil Services Preliminary Examination 2026 question paper was 'leaked' have circulated widely on social media. The government's PIB Fact Check unit, along with the UPSC, has labelled these claims fake and unsupported by evidence — no official agency has confirmed any leak of the Prelims paper.

This pattern repeats before every major exam: scammers post old papers, mock tests or doctored images as a 'leak', usually to sell fake material or to harvest payments and personal data. Acting on them risks both your money and your candidature — using or sharing leaked material is a punishable offence under the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024.

How to verify any such claim in under a minute: check upsc.gov.in for anything about the exam itself, and pib.gov.in/factcheck for viral claims, which the government routinely debunks. A genuine leak, if it ever happened, would be reported by the conducting body and the mainstream press — not by an anonymous Telegram channel asking for money. The red flags of a scam are a payment request, a demand for personal details, and a 'source' that exists only on a chat app.

Ignore the noise, protect your attempt, and put the energy into something that actually moves your score. Take a free UPSC Prelims practice set on Kamiyab, or learn the simple verification habit in our guide on how to verify any Sarkari exam date.