Pakistan police have arrested 149 people in a raid on a scam call centre, the country’s National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) said on Thursday.

The agency told the BBC it acted after a tip-off about the network, which was operating in the city of Faisalabad.

It said the centre was involved in Ponzi schemes and tricked people into handing over vast sums of money in the name of fake investments.

Those arrested included 78 Pakistanis, 48 Chinese nationals, eight Nigerians, four Filipinos, two Sri Lankans, six Bangladeshis, two Myanmar nationals and one Zimbabwean national.
Eighteen of the 149 were women, the agency added.

A copy of a police report said victims of the alleged scam would initially receive a small return on their first investments, before being persuaded to hand over larger sums of money.

“The charged individuals ran WhatsApp groups where they lured ordinary people by assigning small investment tasks like subscribing to different TikTok and YouTube channels,” the agency said.

“Later, they shifted them to Telegram links for further online tasks requiring larger investments.”

Pakistani citizen Muhammad Sajid told BBC Urdu that he was added to a Telegram channel with tens of thousands of members and was impressed by the company’s work. He said he gave them more than 3.138 million rupees ($36,600) in various instalments.

The raid, which took place on Tuesday, saw authorities seize hundreds of computers, servers, cryptocurrency exchanges and foreign SIM cards from the site.

On Wednesday, 149 suspects appeared in court, 87 of whom were handed over to the NCCIA on a five-day physical remand.

A further 62 suspects have been transferred to the district jail on judicial remand until 23 July.

The agency said the raid was at the residence of Malik Tehseen Awan, the former head of Faisalabad’s power grid, who has not been arrested.

(BBC News)

The All Island Canteen and Restaurant Owners’ Association has announced a Rs. 10 increase in the price of a cup of milk tea.

Association President Harshana Rukshan stated that the decision was made in response to the recent rise in the price of imported milk powder.

A meeting between the Minister of Health and Mass Media – Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa and US Ambassador to Sri Lanka – Julie J. Chung was held yesterday (July 10) at the Ministry of Health premises.

During the discussion, the US Ambassador agreed to facilitate a portion of essential medicines and surgical equipment to Sri Lanka from American donors.

The 02 sides also held extensive talks on the current status and future development of the country’s free healthcare system, the media industry.

Efforts to combat Dengue and Chikungunya through public awareness campaigns were also taken up.

Minister Jayatissa noted that special programs have already been launched to avoid periodic medicine shortages in state hospitals and that structured inter-governmental discussions are underway to secure essential supplies.

The Minister recalled the past assistance provided by the US government to develop Sri Lanka’s healthcare services.

He further said that work has begun to formulate a new national media policy with inputs from all stakeholders and that steps are being taken to establish an accredited training institution for journalists.

Implementing a training program for Sri Lankan journalists was also discussed.

The US Ambassador has reiterated the United States’ commitment to continue providing financial, technological, knowledge-based, and material support to strengthen the island’s health and mass media sectors.

Officials from the US Embassy and the Ministry of Health were also present at the meeting.