The National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) has arrested 61 suspects in a raid on an illegal call centre in Rawalpindi that officials say was extorting money from foreign nationals by posing as loan recovery agents.
Acting on a tip-off, NCCIA officials raided the call centre in the Commercial Market of Rawalpindi’s Satellite Town on Monday and caught the suspects “red-handed”, according to Dawn and Arab News.
What was seized
Investigators recovered a large amount of equipment from the premises:
| Item | Number |
|---|---|
| Suspects arrested | 61 |
| Laptops seized | 155 |
| Mobile phones recovered | 71 |
All the devices have been sent for forensic analysis. The number of laptops, more than two for every person arrested, gives an idea of the scale of the operation.
How the scam worked
Preliminary investigations show that the suspects posed as fake recovery agents. They contacted foreign nationals and threatened them over alleged illegal loans, pressuring them into paying money they did not owe.
The agency said the operation caused “severe mental distress to the victims” and damaged Pakistan’s international reputation.
‘Zero-tolerance policy’
NCCIA Director General Syed Ali Nasir Rizvi said the crackdown would continue.
“NCCIA is pursuing a zero-tolerance policy against cybercrime,” he said. “Indiscriminate and vigorous operations against illegal call centres and elements involved in cyber fraud will continue.”
Second major raid in 24 hours
The Rawalpindi raid was the second large operation against illegal call centres in a day. A day earlier, the agency arrested more than 70 people in raids on two call centres in the PECHS neighbourhood of Karachi. Those suspects are accused of targeting US citizens through fraudulent offers of new credit cards and low-interest financial services.
Together, the two operations led to more than 130 arrests in less than 24 hours.
A growing problem
Two large raids in a single day show how seriously the authorities now treat illegal call centres that target people abroad. The NCCIA itself said the Rawalpindi scam harmed Pakistan’s international reputation, a concern for a government that has been pitching Pakistan to American investors as a stable, reforming economy during the prime minister’s visit to the United States.
The NCCIA was set up as a dedicated agency to handle cybercrime, which had previously been dealt with by a wing of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA).
Advice for the public
People who receive calls or messages demanding repayment of loans they did not take should not pay or share personal or bank details. Such claims can be checked directly with the lender, and suspected fraud can be reported to the NCCIA.
Why it matters
Call centres are a legitimate source of jobs in Pakistan’s cities, but operations like the one raided in Rawalpindi use the same setup of phones, laptops and trained callers to defraud people abroad. The NCCIA’s promise of continued raids signals that the authorities want to separate the two. What the forensic examination of 155 laptops and 71 phones reveals about the network, and how many people it targeted, will decide the next steps in the case.
This article draws on reporting by Dawn and Arab News.
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