Cyber Crime Agency Raids Illegal Call Center in Islamabad, Arrests Five Foreign Nationals

Islamabad: The National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) successfully raided an illegal call center in Islamabad late last night, arresting five foreign nationals involved in fraudulent activities.
According to a press release from the NCCIA, over 60 individuals were working at the call center, with five foreign nationals detained during the raid. The agency stated that it would take further legal action against those providing facilities and security to these illegal operations.
A spokesperson reaffirmed the agency’s commitment to continuing its crackdown on all unlawful activities that violate the country’s laws.
The complaint, filed by Ameer Azeem Abbasi on Sunday, led to the registration of the first information report (FIR) regarding financial losses through a task-based scam. The FIR revealed that a criminal gang was operating the call center at Sardar Plaza in the G-10 sector of Islamabad.
The investigation uncovered that the call center was operating in collusion, deceiving individuals by posing as representatives of a fake online earning company. The gang’s hidden agenda was to swindle money, connect with people from various nationalities, and lure them into dubious schemes promising easy earnings.
The NCCIA seized digital equipment used in the scam during the raid. The suspects failed to provide any legal justification for their actions and admitted to being part of a group involved in electronic fraud through blackmail and forgery.
The group used social media platforms such as Facebook, Telegram, and WhatsApp to target vulnerable individuals, employing AI-generated images and fake identities to appear legitimate.
The FIR further detailed a multi-level setup involving fraudsters who initially interacted with victims, collected personal data through Telegram receptionists, and then moved on to advanced tasks. Financial managers involved in the scam received illegal funds via crypto accounts, while ‘callers’ based in countries like Cambodia emptied victims’ bank accounts under the guise of online earnings.
The gang used both local and international victims’ confidential information to defraud them of large sums, which were then transferred through cryptocurrency wallets.
This raid follows another significant operation by the NCCIA last week in Faisalabad, where a factory was raided and 149 individuals were arrested, including 48 Chinese nationals, allegedly involved in online fraud. A special court in Faisalabad later granted physical remand for 87 suspects, including 18 women, while 62 others were sent to jail for 14 days.
Earlier this month, a high-profile cybercrime operation in Karachi led to the arrest of 18 suspects allegedly involved in an online scam. In May, with cooperation from the FBI and Dutch Police, the NCCIA arrested 21 individuals in Multan and Lahore for digital fraud, involving millions of dollars in illegal activities.