ISLAMABAD - The Cyber Crime Wing (CCW) of Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has received 21,259 complaints of financial frauds during the current year and arrested 415 accused in these cases.
According to an official source, of the total complaints received, 3,894 were converted into regular inquiries. A total of 352 cases were registered. In 2021, the source said that the CCW registered 3,894 inquiries, 652 cases, while 703 accused were arrested. He said that criminals usually used different modus operandi to lure innocent people on social media network into various scams.
“Major tools used in these frauds are mobile SIMs which are activated fraudulently by using different techniques like silicon thumb impression,” he added.
It was the mandate of PTA to check and monitor illegal biometric verification of SIMs under section-17 of PECA-2016 (unauthorized issuance of SIM cards), he said.
He further said that such offences were dealt under section-13 (Electronic Forgery) section-14 (Electronic Fraud), section-16 (Unauthorized Use of Identity Information) and section-17 (Issues of Illegal SIMs) of PECA-2016.
The CCW, he said, had taken important steps to prevent such crimes adding that proceedings were initiated against the facilitators, abettor in such cases like franchise owners.
Crackdowns were conducted against the sellers and buyers of silicon thumbs, he said adding that the PTA would introduce live finger detector (LFD) system to address this loophole.
“The database of IMEIs has been maintained to identify and report to PTA for permanently blocking the mobile phone,” he added.