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LAHORE: The Punjab home department has identified an illegal US-based website imitating the name and style of the Government of Punjab to defraud innocent citizens while offering arms licence services.
The home department has written letters to the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) chairman and the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) director-general cybercrime, explaining that a fake and bogus website by the name of “Punjab Arms License Management Verification System” (www.palms.org.pk) was being used to gather sensitive personal information of citizens and obtain payment from them under the garb of issuance of arms license and other arms-related services.
“The website is illegal and maintains the name and style of Government of Punjab and claims to be an official website to defraud innocent citizens.”
The home department wrote an initial analysis of the website which revealed that the website had been hosted by Godaddy.com USA, and individuals who are operating this website are using different cell numbers and collecting money through easypaisa account.
It stated the domain name of the original website owned by the Punjab government is www.pal.nadra.gov.pk/pal/.
The home department asked the PTA and FIA that the matter be thoroughly investigated and all websites using the same name — other than the official website, be permanently blocked to protect innocent public. It requested both authorities to initiate legal action against culprits.
Published in Dawn, March 29th, 2025
Mansoor Malik is a reporter for Dawn with three decades of experience covering politics, governance, legislation, education, and health. He can be found on X at @mansoor691.
