Cyber gang defrauding foreigners busted

Authorities arrest 14 of 21 suspects from Lahore, Multan


Salman Qureshi May 18, 2025

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MULTAN:

The intelligence agencies and the National Cybercrime Investigation Agency (NCCIA), Multan, have arrested 14 operatives of a 21-member gang involved in online fraud with people living abroad.

According to officials, the gang was involved in defrauding people overseas and extorting money from them.

They said a global cybercrime network operating from Pakistan had been busted during the operation.

Sources said the united Sates Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Dutch police had identified the 'HeartSender Group' of fraudsters operating from Pakistan in a joint operation, after which dozens of websites had been blocked.

The NCCIA had assigned the responsibility of looking into the case to the team in Multan.

A team led by Additional Director Abdul Ghaffar has arrested 14 members of the 21-member gang.

Of the suspects, six were arrested from Lahore and eight others from Multan.

The sources said that the gang leader, Ramiz Shahzad (HeartSender), and his group were involved in fraud of millions of dollars with foreign citizens, including US nationals.

The ringleader belongs to the Fatehpur area in Layyah and had a network operating in Lahore as well as Sabzazar Colony in Multan.

The authorities carried out raids on four houses of the gang in Lahore and seized a huge quantity of digital material.

The arrested suspects include Muhammad Aslam, Adeel Aziz, Osama Nawaz, Abdul Moeez and Shoaib Nazir.

The sources said raids were being conducted to arrest one of the prime suspects, Hasnain Raza, who had fled.

Mobile phones, laptops and data storage devices were seized from the possession of the arrested members of the gang.

A case has been registered against the arrested suspects under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) 2016 and various sections of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC).

The investigators have found that the gang leader, Ramiz Shahzad, had frequently travelled to Abu Dhabi and details of his travel record have also been obtained.

Valuable vehicles and other assets worth millions of rupees of the suspects have also been confiscated and their travel abroad has been banned by placing their names on he Exit Control List (ECL).

The arrested suspects were presented in a court, which handed over all of them to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) authorities for seven days on physical remand.

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