Pakistani Telecommunication Authority (PTA) issued a nationwide warning for Pakistani citizens that may jeopardize confidential information. According to them, Indian spy network lure Pakistani citizens through job offers and encourage them to share private information with them in exchange. This information can be critical for political and national reasons, considering how delicate Pak-India relationship is. This ruse will invest the fraudulently gained data and use it for breaching Pakistan’s national security.
How is the Fraud Happening?
PTA explains how these “job offers” can come through professional platforms like LinkedIn or reach the person through social media platforms. Spy networks lure them in through offering them “international opportunities”. They offer access to “recruitment hubs” on WhatsApp or Telegram targeting most of Pakistan’s youth that is actively looking for international exposure.
When the youth is inside these “recruitment hubs”, they are asked to share their photographs, IDs, locations, private information and even details of workplaces. These details would help the spy network to identify the weaknesses of operations nationwide and locations of critical areas. Reports further state that large amounts of money was asked to be paid by the victims to further solidify secrecy of the spy network. These amounts were somewhere about 1-1.5 Million PKR.
PTA warns that these spies would pose as fake recruiters and offer job interviews, onboarding or remote work. They would ask the victim to download and fill-in an “assessment application”. This acts as a gateway for fraud and Indian spies to enter your software making it easy for them to hack into your computers and extract critical infrastructure, telecom nodes and institutional personnel.
National Alerts for Frauds
Pakistan National CERT issued public warning for young professionals and freelancers to not fall victim for these “too-good-to-be-true” jobs in mid-2025. They not only warned for an Indian spy network but also of an Israeli spy network that targeted youth through job postings on “Google ads.”
In April 2025, PTA blocked 604 URLs. All of these were tied to fraud which hints towards a larger scheme of operations that can put Pakistan’s security in danger. The threat isn’t contained in national borders only but also affects diaspora communities. Pakistani embassy in UAE also warned citizens for fake lucrative job offers that might come their way.
Supporting Evidence for These Scams
There is media outrage for these scams but as of 7th October, there seems to be no solidifying proof of an ongoing operation that has been released to the public. Pakistan’s cybersecurity professionals and analysts stress on the importance of substantial evidence for these claims, therefore, keeping the investigation going.
In case of any suspicious activity, authorities urge to report to Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) or National Response Centre for Cyber Crime.
