There has been a major crackdown on online fraud and cybercrime in Pakistan. Pakistan’s National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) has arrested 320 people after raiding eight illegal call centers in Lahore. Among those arrested are 21 foreign nationals and 20 women. According to officials, activities like financial fraud, online harassment and honey-trapping were allegedly being carried out from these call centres.
NCCIA Additional Director Atif Amir informed about this action in a press conference on Saturday. He said the 21 foreign nationals arrested included 12 Chinese, five Filipinos, two Vietnamese, one Malaysian and one Nepalese national. The agency raided these call centers in Lahore this week as part of a drive against organized online crime.
Girls were recruited for honey-traps
According to Atif Amir, the prime suspects in the case hired 20 girls to honey trap people through social media. Honey-trapping can involve activities such as luring people into your trap through romantic relationships or personal conversations and extorting money from them or blackmailing them.
He said among those arrested were more than 100 suspects who were allegedly involved in financial fraud targeting people from Britain, America and Canada. However, confirmation of charges in these cases will be only after investigation and legal process.
Gearing up to tackle cybercrime with the help of AI
The NCCIA official said that the agency is working with organizations related to artificial intelligence (AI) to strengthen the capacity to detect and investigate online crimes. Digital devices seized during the raid have been sent for forensic examination.
Police have registered cases against the suspects under various sections of Pakistan’s ‘Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act, 2016’. The agency is now gathering information about people involved in alleged cyber crimes and their networks by examining seized digital evidence.
