The National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) Punjab arrested three members of an alleged gang involved in impersonating government officials, threatening citizens with bank account blocking and extorting money from them.
Three held posing as govt officials, threatening citizens with account blocking
LAHORE, Aug 19 (APP):The National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) Punjab arrested three members of an alleged gang involved in impersonating government officials, threatening citizens with bank account blocking and extorting money from them.
According to the NCCIA on Wednesday, the arrested suspects, identified as Muhammad Arif, Muhammad Younis Sajid and Muhammad Nadeem, allegedly contacted citizens while posing as officials of various government departments. They threatened the victims by claiming that suspicious transactions had been detected in their bank accounts and that their accounts could be blocked.
The suspects then allegedly demanded money from the victims on the pretext of preventing the accounts from being blocked or resolving the alleged issue, the agency said.
During investigation, it was revealed that the suspects had allegedly obtained Rs1.5 million from a woman through the same modus operandi.
The NCCIA Lahore launched an investigation after receiving a complaint and subsequently arrested the three suspects. Three mobile phones were recovered from their possession.
Preliminary investigation of the recovered devices also led to the identification of more than 12 alleged fake JazzCash accounts that were reportedly being used for fraudulent transactions. The investigation team was examining the accounts, their transaction records and links with other suspected individuals.
The agency advised citizens not to transfer money out of fear in response to calls or messages from individuals claiming to be government officials and to independently verify any such communication with the concerned department before taking any action.
