The two men stand accused of blackmail, harassment, extortion and sharing objectional material over photos and videos they secretly made and threatened to circulate online. The arrests were made in a raid.
At least seven couples fell victim to the cyber-criminals, including one woman who reported the incident to the FIA. The remaining victims have chosen not to come forward due to confidentiality concerns.
Videos captured the individuals in their private moments. The suspects asked their victims to pay or meet them in person, or otherwise they would share the photos and videos online.
One set of videos and photos was circulated by the criminals and went viral on social media, showing a rickshaw driver and a driver of a university professor together.
Under the code name Operation Cyber Storm, the National Response Centre for Cyber Crime (NRC3), seized the pair's digital devices and conducted forensic analysis. The case is registered as No. 01 of 2022, the first case of the year, under sections 16, 20, 21 and 24 of Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act 2016 read with sections 109 and 383 of the Pakistan Penal Code.
In 2021, the FIA cybercrime wing received 95,567 complaints, of which nearly 20 percent related to online blackmailing and harassment over social media.