RAWALPINDI: The Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) Cybercrime Wing on Wednesday arrested three Nigerian nationals for using Facebook and emails to conduct online fraud.

In a press conference at his office, Cybercrime Wing Deputy Director Syed Shahid Hassan described the method by which the scam was perpetrated.

According to Mr Hassan, the suspects initially contacted victims through a fake Facebook profile, posing as generals in the US army posted in Kabul.

They attempted to convince victimsthat they had huge amount of dollars and that they desired to send them gifts in parcels as a token of friendship.

After sharing their mobile numbers through Facebook messenger, victims received calls from a mobile phone number where the caller posed as an official, either from the US embassy in Pakistan or as a Pakistani customs officer.

They would ask the victims if they received a parcel containing gifts and demanded money as customs clearance charges, parcel registration charges, or money laundering clearance certificate charges.

Victims were directed to make payments either into local bank accounts or using Easy Paisa or Western Union, said Mr Hassan.

They were arrested in a raid and the FIA recovered digital media equipment from them, said Mr Hassan.

Published in Dawn, June 28th, 2018