NCCIA arrests 12 members of hacking gang from Lahore

LAHORE: A gang of 12 members involved in hacking the data of various embassies has been arrested from Lahore, the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) said on Tuesday.

“The accused were involved in hacking data of foreign embassies including Saudi Arabia, Germany and Italy,” Director NCCIA Punjab Ali Waseem said in a press conference in Lahore.

The diplomatic missions had communicated to the NCCIA that the accused had hacked the numbers of various embassies and diverted them on their numbers, official said. “Fake appointment letters, mobile phones and digital evidence have been recovered from them”.

The cybercrime gang was operating since year 2019 targeting Pakistanis as well as foreign citizens.

“The accused had hired experts of various languages for their criminal pursuits. A uniform of Singapore Police was also recovered from them,” official said.

The accused had fabricated various embassies environment and fake websites, Ali Waseem said.

The law enforcement agencies conducting raids for arrest of other accomplices of the gang.

The official also disclosed that the NCCIA has also arrested another gang and caught hacking App Tycoon 2FA. “This app has been sold 66,000 times. Any mobile gets hacked as it clicks on the link of this hacking app”, official said.

Singapore government had complained to Pakistani authorities on the matter, official said.

He told the media that a joint task force comprising of all stakeholders being constituted to act against the fake call centres.