Fraud victims in Pakistan can expect a suspect’s bank account to be frozen fairly quickly, but getting the money back is a slower, separate fight. That was the picture officials gave the Senate human rights committee on 27 October, when senators asked NCCIA, the FIA and PTA why complaints sit unresolved for so long. Separately, we covered the Islamabad High Court order asking NCCIA, PTA and Pemra to report on online harm.
Money that is recovered goes back to victims only on a court order, officials said. The one recovery mentioned was about Rs. 5 million in an overseas-study scam, and nobody could say how long returns normally take. Committee chair Samina Mumtaz Zehri asked the agencies to come back with figures.
Timelines and numbers the agencies now owe the committee
The committee wants every cybercrime and online-fraud complaint to carry a processing deadline, and complainants to be updated as the case moves. Zehri also asked for outcomes to be reported as statistics that can be checked: complaints received, accounts frozen, money returned, cases that reached court. She wants delays traced to a named office, with reports in writing.
Several members, including Quratul Ain Marri and Masroor Ahsan, wanted to know why even registering a case takes so long. The list of complaints ran from scam calls to crypto schemes, mule accounts and SIMs used illegally. Nobody reported a single figure for SIM or WhatsApp cases.
The study-abroad cases and two absent agencies
Much of the meeting dealt with families who paid agents for study abroad, visas or jobs and got nothing. The Rs. 5 million recovery came from a different case from the one that drew most attention: the death of Laiba Ijaz, who had graduated from IIUI with a gold medal. Her death was reportedly connected to forged papers for a US university place, and a police officer took the committee through the investigation so far.
The amount she lost has not been confirmed. Zehri asked for a transparent, impartial inquiry that covers everyone involved, and for a progress report at the next meeting.
The Higher Education Commission and the Foreign Ministry did not send anyone. The chair called that a serious concern and told both to return with records of what they have done. Students and families were advised to check that a consultancy is legally registered before paying it anything.
Awareness drives and harmful content
Universities and colleges were asked to teach students, partly through social media, to spot fake investment offers, phishing links and data theft. On children’s safety, the chair wants harmful material spotted and taken down quickly, complaints acted on, and closer work with the social platforms, with a report to the committee afterwards.
These are committee directions, not law, and no deadline lengths were announced. No date has been reported for the next meeting.
