Bank fraud complaints overwhelm FIA

Cybercrime Wing arrests 519 suspects in 8 months

LAHORE:

The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Cybercrime Wing received 7,018 complaints from across Punjab of fraudsters trying to obtain their bank account and ATM passwords during the past eight months.

The wing’s officials told The Express Tribune that they had arrested 519 suspects over such complaints but were still receiving a large number of applications related to online fraud.

They officials lamented shortage of staff impeding investigations into the bank account frauds and conceded that they had not been able to arrest any ATM hacker yet.

A number of complainants also claimed that their cases had not progressed beyond paperwork.

A resident of Faisal Town complained that Rs1.17 million had been fraudulently withdrawn from his bank account. He stated that a man claiming to be a bank representative contacted him and took details from him regarding his bank account. Later the money was transferred from his bank account.

Similarly, after obtaining the ATM card information, Rs135,000 was withdrawn from an ATM of a private bank in Allama Iqbal Town, a complainat stated. Bilal, a resident of Johar Town, and Ahmed of Samanabad claimed that Rs350,000 had been withdrawn fraudulently from their accounts.

They said the bank officials had responded to their complaints by asking why they had divulged the details of their accounts. The complainants claimed that they had received phone calls from helplines and the callers had provided the details of their home address and last ATM transaction, which had convinced them to provide the rest of the information.

One of the complainants from Lahore alleged that the access of the scammers to information about the use of ATM cards showed that elements within the sector were involved with the fraudsters. He said his complaint had been pending for three months without any action.

On the other hand, FIA Cybercrime Wing sources said there was a shortage of investigative officers and the existing staff was overwhelmed by the workload.

An FIA spokesperson said the action against the fraudsters was ongoing. A number of people involved in fraud had been arrested and millions of rupees had been recovered from them.

He said the efforts to curb online fraud were continuing although there were some difficulties. However, the spokesman said the people should also be careful not to share their account details with anyone.

According to one cybercrime victim, Atif, the bank concerned was not providing the record of Rs1.5 million transactions form his bank account and ATM card as demanded by FIA officials.

He said the bank staff neither provide the CCTV video clips nor explained why the account holders were not contacted regarding transactions of major amounts from their accounts. The alert messages were also received late, he alleged.

He alleged that the mobile phone company whose connection had been used for the fraud with him was also not forthcoming with the details.

When the FIA officials acquired the record of the SIM, it was found that it had been issued from Layyah city in the name of a widow who did not have a mobile phone.