LAHORE: The National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) has arrested a 10-member inter-provincial gang allegedly involved in impersonating relatives of overseas Pakistanis and deceiving citizens into transferring money through fake emergency requests.

An NCCIA spokesperson said on Wednesday that the suspects contacted citizens using foreign WhatsApp numbers and caller-masking software to conceal their identities.

“They would pose as close relatives living abroad and falsely claim they were facing visa, immigration and other issues requiring immediate financial assistance. To make the deception appear genuine, they sent forged receipts and fake transaction slips before asking the victims to transfer money into bank accounts operated by the group,” he said.

He said an operation was conducted in Sohan Garden, Islamabad, where all 10 suspects, belonging to Sindh were taken into custody. The arrested individuals have been identified as Mohsin Braro, Muhammad Adil, Asadullah, Mashooq Ali, Arz Muhammad, Dilbar Ali, Daud, Fahad, Imtiaz Ali and Ibtisam.

During the raid, the NCCIA team recovered 10 mobile phones containing WhatsApp conversations, forged financial documents, foreign contact numbers, banking details, card information and other digital evidence believed to have been used in the commission of the offences.

Preliminary investigation revealed that the gang defrauded one victim of Rs1.02 million.

Published in Dawn, July 16th, 2026