A few days ago, the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) conducted a raid at a call centre in Karachi that sections of the media quickly turned into a content-creation exercise — a familiar pattern that has increasingly accompanied many such high-profile operations in recent years.

Having closely followed and reported on similar raids over the past few years, one thing has become hard to ignore: many such high-profile operations struggle to produce convictions matching the sensational claims initially presented to the public. More often than not, they end with institutions failing to substantiate the dramatic allegations made immediately after the raids.

In this latest raid, the raiding party alleged that the particular company was involved in scamming foreign citizens and transferring their funds — a scam commonly referred to in Karachi as “Dabba” or “Box”.

Curious, I made a few calls and found that, contrary to the allegations circulating publicly, the company itself did not directly charge clients for the services in question. Its operations, according to individuals familiar with the matter, were primarily limited to lead generation for overseas companies that had outsourced portions of their customer acquisition work.

The company also appeared to be operating legally and was registered with the relevant authorities, including the Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB), which licenses companies only after conducting physical office verification. Registered IT companies are subsequently facilitated through dedicated IP allocations that remain subject to regulatory oversight mechanisms involving both PSEB and PTA.

More importantly, the company appeared to have a visible and structured operation, unlike many scam setups that traditionally function quietly and underground.

Nonetheless, the raid, according to reports, was carried out alongside the media — a practice reminiscent of an earlier era in Karachi policing when crime reporters were often informed beforehand in order to maximise spectacle.

But instead of filming the alleged fraud itself — the computer screens, financial trails, or the supposed banking applications through which foreigners were allegedly being scammed — cameras focused almost entirely on employees.

We have reached a point where many channels no longer invite actual representatives of political parties, but rather analysts who unofficially function as their defenders and spokespersons from the........

© The Friday Times