FIR filed against Karachi based software company for forgery, money laundering and fraud

The Fia has filed an FIR against Digitonics, a software house operating from Karachi, for charges of forgery and cheating.

Filed on behalf of the state at the Cyber Crime Reporting Center, the FIR accuses the software company of forgery, money laundering, cheating, among numerous other offences.

The charges registered under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (2016), are as follows:

• Section 13: Electronic forgery.
• Section 14: Electronic fraud.
• Section 16: Unauthorised use of identity information.
• Section 20: Offences against the dignity of a natural person.
• Section 26: 'Spoofing', or the act of disguising a communication from an unknown source as being from a known, trusted source.

Furthermore, additional offences under the Pakistan Penal Code were as follows:

• Section 34: Common intention.
• Section 109: Abetment.
• Section 419: Cheating by personation.
• Section 420: Cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property.
• Section 468: Forgery for the purpose of cheating.
• Section 471: Using a forged document as genuine.
• Section 500: Defamation.

Section 3 and 4 of the Money Laundering were also included in the charges.

According to the FIR, the crimes were committed between 2015 and 2021, as the inquiry has been registered on the basis of a report on international scanners operating in Pakistan - received from the Islamabad Cyber Crime Wing.

The report identified scams operating throughout the country, including harassment, fraudulent activities, identity impersonation, cheating, phishing, and extortion, adding that “It revealed the scammers have different websites offering various services which include designs, web developing etc. These websites are reported to blackmail and extort money from their customers after gaining their personal information by impersonating themselves as government officials of the US, UK, and UAE".

The scammers allegedly directed customers to file trademarks and deposit foreign exchange to register the trademarks, which according to the FIR, noted that the company charged a minimum of $100 to initiate the process.

The scammers also allegedly impersonated government officials and warn customers to get their trademarks registered, threatening lawsuits or to have their company shut down.

The report also accused the company of forcefully shutting down customers' websites, and then charging excessive amounts for their restoration, adding that “the impact of these scams in not only contributing to increase the crime rate but will damage the reputation of Pakistan internationally".