Cybercrime cases on the rise in K-P

The number of complaints rose to 1,265 in 2018, expected to go higher this year

PESHAWAR: A rapid rise has been witnessed in the rate of cybercrime in the province with officials reporting more than a thousand complaints over the past eight months of the year. Officials said that a plethora of complaints have been filed with the Cybercrime Wing of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA). Most of these complaints pertain to blackmailing on the internet, including on social media websites such as Facebook. Officials of the wing said that they received 952 complaints in 2017 while the number rose to 1,265 in 2018, while this year it may even go higher. FIA officials said that so far this year, they have received some 130 complaints about online fraud, harassment and blackmailing on social media whilst 127 other complaints were about currency matters. They said that they are probing some 400 cases at the moment and have arrested suspects in more than 30 cases.  

Published in The Express Tribune, September 17^th, 2019.