New Delhi, Sep 16 : Pakistan's digital economy has plunged into a deep crisis of cyber scams, data breaches and online financial fraud with scammers leveraging online banking platforms and deceptive investment schemes to cheat unsuspecting users, according to a report.

The scale of the problem is staggering. Between 2020 and 2024, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) received over 722,000 cybercrime complaints.

Yet, fewer than 10 per cent were formally investigated, and a mere 152 cases led to convictions. In 2024 alone, more than 13,000 complaints of online financial fraud resulted in 1,212 arrests, but only 17 verdicts were delivered. These figures reveal not just inefficiency, but a systemic collapse in justice and deterrence, according to the report in Islam Khabar by Khaalid Hanif.

The financial sector continues to absorb the shock. In Q1 2024, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) imposed fines exceeding PKR 776 million on eight major banks for lapses in anti-money laundering, customer due diligence and fraud risk protocols. The Banking Mohtasib resolved nearly 28,000 digital fraud complaints in 2024, with PKR 1.65 billion in restitution. Yet these recoveries are dwarfed by the scale of unrecovered losses and the erosion of consumer confidence, said the report.

The report further states that digital fraud has evolved into organised, industrial-scale crime. In July 2025, the National Cybercrime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) dismantled a massive Ponzi scheme operating out of a Faisalabad call center, arresting 149 suspects, including foreign nationals.

Meanwhile, the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) flagged 141 illegal lending apps exploiting platforms like Facebook and WhatsApp, many of which reappear under new names even after regulatory takedowns.

It cites the Pakistan Cybersecurity Council's 2024 report which highlights that over 60 per cent of Pakistani companies fail to implement basic cybersecurity protocols such as encryption and multi-factor authentication. International institutions have taken note.

Despite legislative efforts, including the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) 2016, the National Cybersecurity Policy 2021, and the establishment of the Digital Rights Protection Authority (DRPA) in 2025, Pakistan's response remains fragmented. Jurisdictional overlaps and turf wars between the FIA and NCCIA have created confusion over investigative primacy, further weakening enforcement.

With only 350 cybercrime investigators in the country handling over 160,000 cases, each officer has to handle an average of 6,000 complaints annually. Some provinces have just two digital locators and five forensic vehicles. The judiciary, too, is ill-equipped, lacking technical training, specialised benches, and clarity on digital evidence interpretation. The result is a justice system unable to keep pace with the complexity and volume of cybercrime, the report states.

Pakistan's digital infrastructure is equally vulnerable. The PTA's Cybersecurity Report 2024'25 recorded a 17 per cent rise in attacks on critical systems, with phishing incidents surging by 173 per cent globally and mirrored domestically.

While the 'CTDISR-2025' introduced commendable security protocols, compliance remains uneven and largely confined to major telecom operators. Sectoral CERTs for banking and government are still embryonic, and incident response remains under-resourced, the report added.

/IANS