Pakistani authorities have arrested 212 suspects, including Chinese nationals, following raids on three illegal call centers in Islamabad, officials announced Tuesday as they investigate an international cyber-fraud ring.
The National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) conducted the raids in the E-11 and G-10 sectors over the past 24 hours. The operation targeted facilities where suspects allegedly posed as Google representatives to defraud local and foreign citizens through “tasking fraud” and “love-dating schemes,” the agency stated.
Tasking fraud involves fake online jobs where victims complete simple tasks for promised commissions but are ultimately tricked into depositing their own money to unlock or withdraw earnings, while love-dating schemes—commonly known as romance scams—involve criminals building fake romantic connections online to manipulate and steal from victims.
“They simply sit here and target people from different countries,” said Islamabad NCCIA Deputy Director Asif Nawaz, adding that the agency seized 306 mobile phones, 383 computers and CPUs, and 299 monitors and laptops from the suspects, who included Chinese and Pakistani men and women.
“An FIR has been registered. After this, we will obtain remand and conduct the investigation… Furthermore, we have sent the seized digital equipment for forensic analysis, and that report will come.”
The official declined to specify how many Chinese nationals were among the detainees.
The seized equipment has been transferred to the NCCIA laboratory for forensic analysis, while investigators are examining network connections linked to India and Brazil, according to the agency.
Nawaz stated the investigation is currently in its initial stage.
This comes weeks after authorities detained more than 250 foreign nationals in a raid on an illegal call center in Islamabad’s Gulberg Greens area.
Nawaz said Tuesday’s operation was not connected to the earlier case, though investigators found similarities in the two scams.
“It wasn’t linked to the previous case. This is a new FIR for us. But the scam is the same and because there are a lot of these Chinese-operated scam call centers running here, the nature of the crime is the same,” he said.
Investigators found evidence of illegal activity during the raids, with computer systems still running when NCCIA officers entered the call centers, the official said.
“We have found evidence, and their systems were powered on. We caught them with live systems running,” Nawaz said.
NCCIA Director General Syed Ali Nasir Rizvi stated that elements involved in illegal call centers and cyber fraud deserve no leniency.
“Protecting citizens’ data and financial assets is the top priority of the NCCIA,” he said in a statement. “Indiscriminate actions will continue under a zero-tolerance policy against cybercrime.”
