NCCIA call centre raids lead to 89 more arrests

NCCIA call centre raids in Lahore and Karachi led to 89 more arrests on Wednesday, as the agency widened its countrywide crackdown on alleged scam centres.

The National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency said the raids hit four illegal call centres. Its Lahore and Karachi circles carried out the operations.

What the NCCIA call centre raids found

A spokesperson said the suspects cheated foreigners with offers of telecom packages and phone upgrades. They also belonged to a network that stole money after obtaining banking information through fraud.

The agency’s headquarters in Islamabad shared the details. The Lahore circle raided three centres on the directions of Additional Director Atif Ameer and arrested 42 suspects, among them 11 women. Agents seized 67 laptops, one desktop computer and 50 mobile phones, along with other digital devices.

In Lahore, the teams struck in Garden Town, Gulberg and OPF Society. Officers arrested 22 suspects in Garden Town, 10 of them women. They also held 7 in Gulberg and 13 in OPF Society.

The Karachi centre

The Karachi circle exposed a centre that operated under the name Azaan Enterprises at the Technology Park on Shahrah-e-Faisal. Officers arrested 47 suspects there.

They recovered 50 laptops, 26 mobile phones and a desktop computer. The agency says the group deceived foreign citizens into giving up their banking details and then took their money.

In total, the NCCIA call centre raids produced 117 laptops, two desktop computers and 76 mobile phones. The seized devices have gone for forensic analysis.

How the scheme worked, according to investigators

Early findings suggest that the Lahore centres targeted overseas customers, including US citizens. The suspects reportedly posed as staff of US telecom firms.

After that, they gathered financial details and moved money without authorisation, the spokesperson said. A first check of the Garden Town material turned up dialer software and data tied to suspicious activity.

Additional Director Atif Ameer of the Lahore zone said investigators are working to find each suspect’s role. They will also examine the financial transactions and look for other people linked to the activity.

What the agency says comes next

Officers registered cases against the accused, and further investigation continues. Forensic work on the seized devices has begun, and it will help investigators trace each suspect’s role. The spokesperson said the agency would keep acting against anyone who defrauds overseas customers under the cover of telemarketing.

Director General Syed Ali Nasir Rizvi said the agency will not let illegal call and scam centres run in any circumstances. He added that the agency would continue indiscriminate action against all such establishments that cause financial harm.

A growing NCCIA call centre raids crackdown

The latest arrests follow a series of earlier operations. Earlier raids at centres in Islamabad produced a large number of arrests in an international fraud probe, according to reports.

For now, the NCCIA call centre raids add 89 names to the list of suspects, and forensic checks on the seized devices will shape the cases.