The cyber crime agency NCCIA has arrested 154 people from an unregistered call centre in Islamabad, which investigators say was used in a loan app scam that blackmailed borrowers. The agency said the operation took personal data from victims' phones and sent fabricated nude images to their contacts until they paid. The accused are now in custody while the case proceeds in court.
How the alleged scheme worked
According to the first information report, or FIR, the centre was run like a company under a four-person senior leadership, and it presented itself as a legitimate IT business. Team leaders supervised their teams and passed along material pulled from victims' handsets. Recovery agents, whose job was to collect money owed, used an app named Cashloan to reach borrowers and gain entry to their photo galleries and personal details.
The information then passed to a separate team, which used doctored nude pictures to extort victims by sending them to people on their contact lists. The FIR names the centre as Born CC / NZ Corporation and says it chased repayments for several foreign online loan apps, including Rupee Free, Vcash, Wecash, Good life and Power full. It also states that the centre was not registered with any regulatory authority.
Arrests and court remand
The NCCIA raid led to a case registered on November 13 at the agency's reporting centre for cyber crime in Islamabad, following a search that resulted in the seizure of digital devices. Inspector Adeel Ahmed Sheikh, acting for the state, is the complainant and also the investigating officer. The FIR cites the cyber crime law and sections of the Pakistan Penal Code on cheating and on acting in common intention, meaning the accused shared a purpose.
On Saturday, the 154 accused were brought before a judicial magistrate in Islamabad by video link, in two groups of 112 men and 42 women. The NCCIA's assistant director for legal affairs, Asim Shahjahan, also appeared. Investigators asked for 10 days of physical remand, meaning police custody, for the men and 14 days of judicial remand, meaning jail custody, for the women.
The court granted three days of physical remand for the men, who must appear again on November 17. The women were placed in Adiala Jail under judicial remand until November 28. The court also noted that the accused had been detained at the spot and that no plausible explanation had been offered for their presence at the centre. It said no documents had been submitted showing the centre was authorised to operate.
Timeline: what has happened so far
- November 13: The case is registered at the NCCIA's Islamabad reporting centre after a search and seizure.
- Saturday: The 154 accused are produced before the court, which grants three days of physical remand for the men and sends the women to jail.
- November 17: The men are to be produced before the court again.
- November 28: The women's judicial remand period ends.
Aasan alfaaz mein
Islamabad mein ek ghair rajistered call centre par NCCIA ki raid mein 154 logon ko giraftar kiya gaya. Ye log loan app ke zariye borrowers ka phone data le kar unhein blackmail karte thay, aur fake nude tasveerein unke contacts ko bhej dete thay jab tak paisa na milta. Adalat ne mardon ko teen din ke physical remand par diya hai, jabke khawateen Adiala Jail mein judicial remand par hain. Agar aap koi loan app istemal karte hain to uski permissions aur contacts access zaroor dekhein.
