Busted! 8 Nigerians among 149 arrested in Pakistani cybercrime raid

Eight Nigerians are among 149 suspects busted by the National Cybercrime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) during a massive raid on an underground illegal counterfeit cybercrime factory operating in Faisalabad, Pakistan.

Chak 54-RB, Sirohli, factory, previously in the jurisdiction of the Balochni police station, was raided late on Monday night. Those taken into custody include 48 Chinese and a few others from the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Zimbabwe, Myanmar, and Pakistan, Pakistani news portal Dawn has reported.

Sources identified that the aforementioned building is allegedly owned by Malik Tehseen Awan, who is a former Faisalabad Electric Supply Company (FESCO) Board chairman. It is stated that Awan has fled during the raid and is at large.

Those arrested include three men and five women who are purportedly members of a well-organized syndicate involved in running online fraud, Ponzi schemes, and bank internet system hacking.

The NCCIA seized dozens of laptops and digital devices during the crackdown and was forced to use a trailer to move the equipment.

The 149 suspects faced seven First Information Reports (FIRs) under Pakistan’s Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) and Penal Code sections 109, 419, and 420 related to abetting criminal conspiracy, impersonation, and cheating.

Police say the gang was defrauding individuals into “online work” and fake investments, cheating victims out of millions of rupees. The suspects were also pretending to be foreign investors on fake crypto websites, preliminary investigations reveal.

It is not clear if the Nigerian Embassy in Islamabad has been informed.

The raids are coinciding with Pakistan increasingly worried about foreign-based cybercrime gangs pretending to be call centres and tech parks.