Faisalabad police apprehend 149, including 48 Chinese, in scam call centre raid

Faisalabad (AFP): Police have arrested 149 people — including 71 foreigners, mostly Chinese — in a raid on a scam call centre, the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) said on Thursday.

“During the raid, a large call centre was uncovered, which was involved in Ponzi schemes and investment fraud. Through this fraudulent network, the public was being deceived and vast sums of money were being illegally collected,” the agency said in a statement.

The NCCIA said it was acting on a tip-off about the network, operating in Faisalabad, a manufacturing centre of the country.

It said that the raid was carried out at the residence of Tasheen Awan, the former head of the city’s power grid.

All those arrested were in custody, including 78 Pakistanis and 48 Chinese, as well as citizens from Nigeria, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Zimbabwe and Myanmar.

Some 18 of the 149 were women, it added.