Authorities in Pakistan have arrested 149 individuals, including 71 foreign nationals, in a major crackdown on a call center accused of orchestrating online investment scams and Ponzi schemes.
The raid, carried out by the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency in the city of Faisalabad, led to the discovery of a large-scale operation that had been siphoning off vast amounts of money from unsuspecting victims.
“During the raid, a large call centre was uncovered, which was involved in Ponzi schemes and investment fraud,” the agency confirmed in an official statement on Thursday. “Through this fraudulent network, the public was being deceived and vast sums of money were being illegally collected.”
The operation was based in the residence of Tasheen Awan, the former head of Faisalabad’s power grid. Authorities said Awan has not been arrested at this time.
Among those detained were 78 Pakistani nationals and 48 Chinese citizens, along with individuals from Nigeria, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Zimbabwe, and Myanmar. The agency also confirmed that 18 women were among the suspects taken into custody.
According to the police report, the scam lured victims with small profits on initial investments to gain their trust. They were then convinced to transfer larger sums through elaborate schemes managed via messaging apps.
“The charged individuals ran WhatsApp groups where they lured ordinary people by assigning small investment tasks like subscribing to different TikTok and YouTube channels,” the report said. “Later, they shifted them to Telegram links for further online tasks requiring larger investments.”
Investigations are ongoing as authorities seek to dismantle the wider network behind the international scam.
