Pakistan arrested 40 at Lahore call centre that used AI to make explicit fake images to extort loan defaulters
Pakistan's National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) raided an illegal call centre in Lahore and arrested 40 suspects. The centre ran several instant loan apps that accessed borrowers' photo galleries and contact lists. When borrowers missed payments, staff allegedly used AI tools to turn their photos into explicit images and threatened to send them to family and contacts unless they paid at once. Officials seized 41 laptops and 40 mobiles, booked the suspects under the PECA and are probing possible links outside Pakistan.
What the AI did
Call centre staff allegedly used AI tools to alter photographs taken from borrowers' phones and turn them into explicit fake images, which were then used to threaten borrowers who missed loan payments. It has not been reported which AI tools were used.
First reported October 7, 2026 · Added to the register October 13, 2026 · 1 source
- Deployer
- Illegal call centre in GCP housing society, Lahore
- Affected
- Borrowers who failed to repay loans
- Country
- Pakistan (Punjab)
- When it happened
- Not stated in the sources
- First reported
- October 7, 2026
What this means for you
Could this affect you?
Borrowers of the instant loan apps Gurbat Fund, Jahez Fund, Cash Air, Credit Check and Credit Support were exposed, because the apps had access to their photo galleries and contact lists.
What to check
- Audit the data permissions that loan apps request.
- Remove loan apps that harvest photo galleries and contact lists.
- Avoid unlicensed instant loan apps.
- Report extortion to cybercrime authorities.
Areas of your AI programme this touches
Every fact and its source (5)
- Seized equipment41 laptops and 40 mobiles“41 laptops and 40 mobiles were seized from the suspects”[1]
- Ongoing probeProbe into links outside Pakistan“probing whether this network has any links outside Pakistan”[1]
- ChargesBooked under PECA“booked under different sections of the PECA (Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act)”[1]
- Arrests40 suspects arrested in Punjab province“has arrested 40 suspects in Punjab province”[1]
- Loan apps operatedGurbat Fund, Jahez Fund, Cash Air, Credit Check, Credit Support“Gurbat Fund, Jahez Fund, Cash Air, Credit Check and Credit Support”[1]
Sources
- 40 arrested in Pakistan over AI-generated fake images of loan defaultersorissapost.com · October 7, 2026
How this record is classified. Severity M (3/5): harm to individuals, or a policy breach with limited reach. OECD level: incident, an event in which an AI system led to actual harm. Evidence: Confirmed, meaning a company, official or court statement.
The facts in At a glance and in Every fact and its source are quoted from the sources listed. The summary, What the AI did and What this means for you are written from those sources and checked against them automatically before publication. Records reflect what has been disclosed, not everything that has happened. Incidents are found through news feeds and the GDELT Project.
