LAHORE: The National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA), during a province-wide crackdown, arrested 28 suspects allegedly involved in organised online fraud schemes targeting citizens through impersonation, fake investment offers and fabricated official identities.

The NCCIA recovered 24 mobile phones and a laptop and are examining the devices for evidence of further links to the fraud network. In Lahore, 18 suspects were arrested in separate operations.

The agency said the suspects used a range of identities to gain victims’ confidence, including those of relatives, visa agents, government officials and Punjab Safe Cities Authority personnel.

In one case, fraudsters allegedly posed as a relative and a visa agent and received Rs25.86 million from a victim, it said.

Three suspects were arrested in Faisalabad where, the NCCIA said, a victim was persuaded to invest money after being shown fabricated trading records, digital wallet balances and purported profit statements. The victim suffered a loss of Rs54.6 million.

Seven suspects were arrested in Multan who posed as relatives, bank employees and people based in Britain and demanded payments on the pretext of prize money, customs clearance, taxes and visa renewal.

“We are examining the seized digital devices through forensic analysis and reviewing financial transactions, call records and digital communications to determine the scale of the operation and identify other individuals linked to the network,” it said.

The NCCIA said the investigation highlighted a method of online fraud in which criminals would combine digital communication with impersonation and social engineering to establish trust before persuading victims to transfer money.

FIA: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Saturday arrested a woman allegedly operating an unauthorised office for providing Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) attestation and apostille-related services in Gulberg.

According to FIA, the suspect identified as Khadija Sameer was arrested during a raid by the Anti-Corruption Circle. The agency said documents relating to MoFA apostille services were recovered during the operation.

In a separate operation, the FIA arrested a proclaimed offender allegedly wanted in connection with electricity theft. Parvez Ahmad was wanted by the agency since 2024.

The FIA said further investigation into both cases was under way.

Published in Dawn, August 9th, 2026