KARACHI: The National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) on Sunday claimed to have arrested 11 suspects during a raid on an alleged illegal call centre involved in cyber fraud targeting foreigners.
According to an NCCIA spokesperson, an intelligence-based raid was conducted on the call centre in the Sharea Faisal area, where an organised network of individuals was allegedly engaged in organised international cyber fraud, financial scams and the unlawful acquisition of sensitive banking information belonging to foreign nationals, particularly citizens of the United States.
During the operation, the call centre owner, Yasir Gilgiti, and 10 others were arrested and digital devices and other electronic equipment suspected to have been used in the illegal activities were seized.
“Preliminary investigations and technical analysis of the seized digital equipment revealed that the suspects were impersonating representatives of various US banks, financial institutions and debt settlement agencies through deceptive telephone calls,” the spokesperson said.
The suspects reportedly used “sophisticated fraudulent techniques, including call spoofing, impersonation and carefully prepared scripts, to deceive foreign nationals into disclosing confidential personal and financial information”.
Investigations revealed that the unlawfully obtained information was allegedly shared with other members of the network and used to facilitate unauthorised financial transactions and fraudulent charges.
The NCCIA registered a case against the held suspects under relevant sections of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act 2016 (as amended in 2025) and the Pakistan Penal Code.
“Further investigation is underway to determine the full extent of the fraudulent operations, trace the financial transactions, identify additional accomplices and establish possible links with other national and international cybercrime networks,” the spokesperson added.
Published in Dawn, October 19th, 2026
