• Suspects targeted foreigners and locals, used their data to steal money
• Emblems of Kuwait govt, logos of prominent money transfer firms seized

KARACHI: Eighteen suspects, believed to be involved in a high-profile online scam, were arrested and produced before a court on Thursday.

A judicial magistrate remanded them into the custody of the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) for interrogation.

According to the agency, they were found involved in an ‘online loan scam’ targeting foreign nationals, especially from Gulf countries, besides local citizens.

Investigating officer Ameer Ali Khoso on Thursday produced 18 suspects before the judicial magistrate (East) and sought their 14-day physical remand for further interrogation.

After hearing the IO and suspects, the court remanded them in NCCIA custody for three days and directed him to produce them at the next hearing along with a progress report.

At the outset of the hearing, the IO informed the court that the NCCIA had received a tip-off from an informer regarding a gang allegedly involved in financial fraud, primarily targeting nationals of Gulf countries.

He submitted that after getting approval from competent authority, the NCCIA conducted a raid at the specified location, arrested 18 suspects and recovered a uniform of the Kuwaiti police along with several digital devices from the premises.

According to the FIR, a preliminary examination of the seized devices revealed that the suspects were allegedly part of an organised online loan scam, targeting both local and foreign nationals, particularly from Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait and other Gulf countries.

The NCCIA alleged that the gang used to attract people through fraudulent advertisements offering loans. After obtaining their personal and banking details, the suspects would start threatening them to extort money. The extorted money was then transferred through internet banking and other digital platforms, it added.

Regarding their modus operandi, the agency stated that initial analysis of the recovered mobile phones and other devices showed the use of applications such as “Friends Search for WhatsApp” and Voice over IP (VoIP) software. Through these tools, the suspects allegedly accessed WhatsApp contact lists of foreigners and made spoofed calls, falsely informing them they had won lotteries worth thousands of euros, dollars or dirhams.

Using the VoIP software, the suspects allegedly impersonated officials and tricked victims into sharing sensitive credentials. They also allegedly stole credit card information of their clients and transferred the funds into their own accounts.

The agency further claimed that the recovered digital data included spoofed communications, sensitive personal information of victims, and forged documents bearing logos of international money transfer services such as MoneyGram, Lycamobile, Western Union, as well as panaflex banners printed with the emblem of the Kuwaiti police, the State of Kuwait, and its Ministry of Interior.

A day before, the NCCIA had booked the 18 men under Sections 3 (Unauthorised access to information system or data), Section 4 (Unauthorised copying or transmission of data), Section 6 (Unauthorised access to critical infrastructure information system or data), Section 13 (Electronic forgery), Section 14 (Electronic fraud), Section 16 (Unauthorised use of identity information) and Section 26 (Spoofing) of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (Peca) 2016 read with Section 419 (Punishment for cheating by personation), Section 420 (Cheating and dishonestly Inducing delivery of property) and Section 109 (abetment) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC).

Published in Dawn, June 27th, 2025