Pakistan Cracks Down on Illegal Call Centres, 500 Arrested in 5 Years

ISLAMABAD: The government has revealed a major crackdown on illegal call centres and digital fraud networks operating across Pakistan. Over the past five years, the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) has registered 60 criminal cases and arrested nearly 500 accused, including foreign nationals, as part of efforts to curb scams and fraudulent digital operations.

In a written submission to Parliament, Interior Minister Senator Syed Mohsin Raza Naqvi disclosed that the NCCIA working under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) 2016 has taken “extensive measures” to tackle the surge in unlawful call centre operations, scam software houses, and digital telecom fraud throughout the country.

Task Force Formed for Real-Time Crackdown

To bolster oversight, the government has constituted a high-level Task Force comprising representatives from the SECP, PTA, and PSEB. The body has been mandated to create a real-time information–sharing mechanism to instantly detect and dismantle illegal digital operations.

The Task Force has two primary objectives:

• Enhancing compliance with regulatory frameworks;
• Strengthening enforcement against illegal digital/telecom activities while raising awareness among stakeholders regarding legal and regulatory responsibilities.

Scale of Crackdown Exposed

According to official data, NCCIA-led enforcement from 2021 to 2025 led to:

Category	Count
Illegal Call Centres / Software Houses Identified	72
Total Accused Involved (Pakistanis)	242
Total Accused Involved (Foreigners)	295
Accused Arrested (Pakistanis)	206
Accused Arrested (Foreigners)	288
FIRs Registered	60

The figures reveal a sharp rise in foreign nationals involved in digital fraud operations particularly in grey market call centres and software houses engaged in phishing, investment scams, impersonation fraud, and telecom rerouting schemes.

Government Pushes Tightening of PECA

The Interior Minister stressed that PECA recently amended in 2025 now empowers NCCIA to actively pursue cross-border digital crime syndicates. However, continued cooperation from regulators and the private sector remains essential to curb the “industrial-scale” proliferation of these illegal setups.

Criminal Networks Under Increased Surveillance

Officials said the enhanced monitoring systems now enable investigators to trace back end digital infrastructure used for scam calls, laundering of payments through digital wallets, VoIP masking, and coordinated fraud schemes run from seemingly legitimate tech offices.

Security officials told parliamentary bodies that illegal call centres have evolved into “highly networked criminal enterprises” operating under foreign handlers, making regulatory vigilance indispensable.