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Pakistan’s National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) has arrested 149 people in a major crackdown on a scam call center operating in Faisalabad.
The raid, carried out on Tuesday, followed a tip-off about a fraudulent network running Ponzi schemes and fake investment offers. Victims were tricked into investing large sums of money, often through apps like WhatsApp and Telegram.
According to the NCCIA, the suspects initially offered small profits to gain trust before convincing people to invest more. “They ran WhatsApp groups and assigned tasks like subscribing to YouTube or TikTok channels, later moving victims to Telegram for higher-value investments,” the agency said.
Among those arrested were 78 Pakistanis, 48 Chinese nationals, 8 Nigerians, 4 Filipinos, 6 Bangladeshis, 2 Sri Lankans, 2 Myanmar nationals, and 1 Zimbabwean. 18 of the suspects are women.
Authorities also seized hundreds of computers, cryptocurrency platforms, foreign SIM cards, and servers used in the operation.
One victim, Muhammad Sajid, told BBC Urdu he lost over 3.1 million rupees (around $36,600) after being misled by the group’s promises.
On Wednesday, all suspects appeared in court. 87 were handed over to the NCCIA on a five-day remand, while 62 were sent to district jail on judicial remand until July 23.
The call center was reportedly operating from the home of Malik Tehseen Awan, a former head of Faisalabad’s power grid. He has not yet been arrested.
