Cybercrime Complaints Top 150,000 in 2025, NA Told

News Desk 

Islamabad: A sharp rise in cybercrime has exposed Pakistan’s growing digital vulnerabilities, with more than 150,000 complaints reported nationwide in 2025, the National Assembly was told on Friday, underscoring the scale of financial fraud and online scams targeting citizens.

Minister of State for Interior Talal Chaudhry informed the House that the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) received 150,542 complaints during the year, the bulk of them linked to financial fraud.

According to official figures, 81,996 complaints involved cyber-enabled financial crimes, while 2,974 cases were related to WhatsApp account hacking.

Responding to a question by MNA Erum Hamid, the minister said scams such as fake investment schemes, account takeovers and online impersonation remain a serious challenge as digital usage expands faster than public awareness and enforcement capacity.

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Chaudhry said the government has rolled out multiple initiatives to curb cybercrime and improve reporting, including a public awareness and complaints portal (nccia.gov.pk), a dedicated helpline (1799), and outreach programmes in collaboration with educational institutions. Special focus, he added, is being placed on vulnerable groups such as rural communities, women, elderly citizens and people in less-connected regions.

Highlighting emerging risks, the minister told the House that Pakistan is finalising its first-ever national Artificial Intelligence policy, acknowledging that deepfake and voice-cloning scams pose a rapidly evolving threat.

He stressed that countering such crimes would require faster legal reforms, upgraded technical capacity and sustained public awareness.

Despite the surge in complaints, enforcement outcomes remain limited. Of the total complaints received, 10,756 were converted into formal inquiries, resulting in the registration of 851 cases. So far, 1,095 suspects have been arrested.

The minister said financial crime cases involved an estimated Rs2.716 billion, of which only Rs452.376 million has been recovered to date, while investigations into remaining cases are ongoing.

The House was informed that the Ministry of Interior, in coordination with relevant agencies, is working to strengthen legal, technical and institutional frameworks to better protect citizens as Pakistan’s digital footprint continues to expand.