ISLAMABAD:
More than a dozen members of Parliament, including senators and MNAs, have fallen victim to cyber fraud involving hundreds of thousands of rupees, online harassment and identity theft, a parliamentary panel was told on Tuesday.
Officials from the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) briefed lawmakers on a growing wave of online fraud targeting public officials during a meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on the Interior.
The panel was informed that more than a dozen senators and MNAs were defrauded and money was extracted from several victims and identities were misused in others.
Some suspects have been arrested, while efforts are underway to trace others.
In a shocking revelation, NCCIA officials told the committee that Senator Falak Naz Chitrali received a call from a fraudster posing as the CEO of Shaukat Khanum Memorial Hospital who managed to extract Rs485,000 from her.
The suspects in the case have since been arrested and the amount recovered.
Similarly, Senator Bilal Ahmed Mandokhail was also defrauded after fraudsters impersonated the governor while Rs 490,000 was fraudulently taken from Sahibzada Hamid Raza.
Senator Faisal Rehman, MNA Raja Khurram Nawaz and Naz Baloch were also subjected to online harassment and defamation.
In another case, a fake social media profile was created using the photograph of Deputy Chairman Senate Syedaal Khan, while Senator Palwasha was duped on the pretext of online investment.
The NCCIA informed the committee that out of 11 cases reported, investigations were still ongoing in three, while in six cases suspects had been arrested and stolen money recovered.
Briefing the committee, NCCIA officer DIG Irfanullah said the agency had received 157,000 complaints of which 6,029 cases were formally registered while 65,431 complaints were converted into enquiries.
Commenting on the scale of the issue, the committee chairman noted that the volume of complaints indicated widespread fraud affecting the public.
Acknowledging that the agency was facing a severe manpower shortage, DIG Irfanullah disclosed that the NCCIA currently had only 523 staff across the country.
Responding to the concern, the Home Secretary said steps were being taken to strengthen the agency, including new recruitment, specialized training of personnel and establishment of 64 NCCIA police stations nationwide.
He said that despite limited staff, the agency delivered encouraging results.
The Home Secretary also pointed to a wider enabling problem, stating that many individuals rent out their bank accounts, which are then used to channel fraudulent proceeds.
Account holders receive small commissions, while the bulk of the money is withheld by fraudsters. He said the government had written to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) urging it to strengthen bank security features to curb such practices.
