Around 350 scam call centres operating in Karachi, says NCCIA official

Around 350 call centres involved in scamming activities are operating in Karachi, an additional director of the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) said on Thursday, adding that 273 people, including 100 women and 42 minors, had been arrested during a recent raid on a call centre on Sharea Faisal.

Addressing a press conference, NCCIA Additional Director Shehzad Akbar said cybercrime was continuously increasing and the recent operation had targeted one of the three major companies operating in the city. He said Sharah-e-Faisal was a major hub for call centres and the agency had raided a large company based there.

He said previous action against only the owners had failed to dismantle such networks. After an owner was arrested, their relatives would reportedly establish another company under a different name and resume the same activities. Some employees were also fully aware of the fraudulent operations, he added, warning that no one involved would now be given any concession.

Akbar said the call centre on Sharah-e-Faisal had been raided in the past but had resumed similar activities after the operation. This time, a case had been registered against the entire network instead of only its owners.

He said 273 people, including around 100 women and 42 minors, were arrested during the latest operation. Children of school-going age were allegedly being used for scamming and other illegal activities.

The NCCIA official said 339 laptops had been seized, each containing different fake online identities. The devices also held sensitive financial information of credit card holders. The agency had also confiscated 152 mobile phones and four CPUs.

According to Akbar, the suspects allegedly obtained credit card details by luring people with attractive offers and other inducements, then used the information to withdraw money from their accounts.

He said investigators had also found evidence of money laundering, hawala and hundi transactions, and the involvement of merchant networks in the call centres' activities. Thousands of foreign nationals' records had also been recovered from the seized laptops, prompting further investigations.

Akbar said the networks were not only targeting people abroad but had also defrauded Pakistani citizens through various methods. There was also evidence of retired people being cheated, he added. He said all those arrested would be brought to justice and maintained that the operation had been conducted in accordance with legal requirements, with senior officials taken into confidence beforehand.

The agency's aim was not to harass women and children without reason but to protect them from criminal activities, he said. However, he added, such fraud could not be eliminated unless the criminal records of employees were also established.

Akbar warned parents that they could also face legal action if they failed to prevent their children from becoming involved in illegal activities. He indicated that action could be taken against them under Section 109 of the Pakistan Penal Code.

He further said the NCCIA had recently carried out several operations, including the recovery of a minor girl in a case involving the dark web. The agency was also taking action against the online supply and use of drugs at universities, with two people arrested so far.

Cases had also emerged involving the supply of drugs through online websites and the use of pills at educational institutions, he said.

The official added that the agency was investigating fraud involving fake online job offers and had found evidence that money obtained through alleged scams was being transferred through JazzCash.

Akbar said the NCCIA would continue operations against all cybercrime networks and no one would be given leniency merely because they were an employee or owner of a call centre.