Illegal call centers face crackdown in Pakistan

Islamabad: To combat illicit call centers nationwide, the federal government has decided to undertake a massive operation.

ARY News reported in this regard that after the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency’s (NCCIA) “Operation Grey” against call centers failed, a new team was formed. The team consists of officers from sensitive agencies, the Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) Cyber Crime Wing, and the National Forensic Agency (NFA).

The task force, which will function under the FIA headquarters, also includes the federal police and district administration.

In the meantime, all pertinent agencies have been instructed to assist the task force, which will investigate blackmail, gambling, and fraudulent schemes. The Ministry of Interior will receive daily reports on the actions taken against call centers.

According to sources, a list of Karachi-based call centers has also been compiled to take further effective action.

It is pertinent to mention that 275 foreign nationals were detained on Thursday for running an illicit call center during an operation in Islamabad’s Sector I-10/3 by the FIA and the NCCIA.

The operation exposed the call center management’s involvement in the creation of unethical content, according to the FIA, which noted that the foreign nationals detained were from a number of nations, including China.

Officials claimed that criminal activities were reportedly occurring at the call center and that foreign men and women had been hired to create immoral content.

While the NCCIA filed cases under the PECA Act, the FIA filed cases under the Foreigners Act against the detained individuals.