LAHORE (APP) - The National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) conducted a raid and arrested a 15-member gang involved in defrauding citizens through WhatsApp by impersonating government officials, and hacking mobile phones as well as WhatsApp accounts.
According to the Punjab NCCIA Director Muhammad Ali Waseem, the gang used to contact citizens through WhatsApp, first establishing friendly relations before posing as senior government officers or customs officials.
The suspects would then demand money from victims on different pretexts and force them to pay fake taxes or fees.
Investigations revealed that the accused also lured citizens with fake prizes and gifts. During the process, they illegally gained access to victims’ mobile phones and WhatsApp accounts. After hacking the accounts, the gang used the same numbers and contact lists to trap more people in their fraud network.
During the raid, officials recovered 16 mobile phones, multiple fake WhatsApp accounts, suspicious voice messages, and fake JazzCash accounts.
All the evidence has been taken into custody for further investigation.
The arrested suspects were identified as Tehseen Saeed, Muhammad Saddam, Muhammad Ahsan, Muhammad Sohail, Muhammad Shan, Muhammad Rehan, Muhammad Muzammal, Zain Abbas, Umair Bashir, Ejaz Ahmed, Ali Hassan, Bahadur Ali, Muhammad Tariq, Muhammad Asif and Mohsin Ishaq, all residents of Bahawalpur district.