Unsolicited calls still being made after biometric verification – Interior Minister

The Interior Ministry confirmed that even after the biometric verification of SIMs, people were receiving fraudulent and spam calls.

During a National Assembly meeting, the Interior Minister was asked about the status of complains made regarding the large amounts of unsolicited calls being made to people with either fraudulent or spam messages. He was asked whether it was still possible to make such calls even after biometric verification was done. Mr Ijaz Ahmad Shah responded with a written message, saying that under section 25D Telegraphic Act of Unsolicited calls on GSM, the problem was a mandate of the local policing authorities.

“Yes, it is possible that after biometric verification such SIMs can be used for unsolicited calls. Under section 17 PECA “Unauthorized Issuance of SIMs Cards” is the mandate of PTA to check and monitor the illegal SIMs 25 biometric verification. During current year CCW-FIA registered 07 FIR u/s 17 and 7 accused are arrested in the recovery of 7 BVS devices and 2045 Silicon Thumb impression and 5400 sheets along with voter lists.”

Currently, a total of 7577 complains have been registered regarding this matter; all these people were financially wronged in some way via fraudulent calls.

It is important to know that out of these 7577 reports, 1277 were converted into inquiries and 14 were registered as formal cases.

The Cyber Crime Wing (CCW) of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) handles all these cases and interrogates the perpetrators. These interrogations have revealed that such SIMs were issued using fraudulent techniques such as silicon thumb impressions.

Ultimately, the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority (PTA) is responsible for monitoring all such illegal SIM registrations. The CCW-FIA have established special teams in every Cybercrime Reporting Center to deal with all these spam and fraudulent call reports.