LAHORE: The National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) on Wednesday claimed to have arrested 42 suspects, including 11 women, during raids on three alleged illegal call centres in Lahore.

According to NCCIA Lahore Zone Additional Director Atif Ameer, the raids were conducted in Garden Town, Gulberg and OPF Society. In Garden Town, 22 suspects, including 10 women, were arrested, and 19 laptops, one desktop computer and 24 mobile phones were seized.

In Gulberg, seven suspects, including a woman, were apprehended, while 28 laptops and 12 mobile phones were recovered.

During the raid in OPF Society, 13 suspects were arrested, and 20 laptops, 14 mobile phones and two server systems were seized.

He said preliminary investigations suggest that the call centres were targeting overseas customers, particularly US citizens, on the pretext of offering mobile phone upgrades, telecommunications packages and Sim-related services.

The suspects posed as representatives of US telecommunications companies to obtain customers’ financial information and receive money through unauthorised transactions.

Mr Ameer said an initial examination of the digital material recovered from Garden Town had revealed dialer software and data linked to suspicious activities.

All seized devices had been sent for forensic analysis, while investigations were underway to establish the individual roles of the suspects, examine the financial transactions and identify other people potentially linked to the activities, he added.

Published in Dawn, October 29th, 2026