Pakistan detains 258 foreigners in scam centre raid

Pakistan authorities said on Monday they detained 258 foreigners, including 40 Chinese nationals, following a raid on an alleged "scam call centre" in the capital Islamabad.

"They were running a scam call centre in Gulberg Green, a housing society on the outskirts of Islamabad," an official from the Federal Investigation Agency, a Pakistani intelligence service, told AFP.

"They came to Pakistan on tourist visas and were not allowed to do what they were doing."

Those detained — including 170 people from Vietnam, as well as nationals from Malaysia and "other Asian countries" — were being held at a Rawalpindi jail.

The official said the respective embassies were informed and that details of the allegations against the detainees would be released in the coming days as the investigation was ongoing.

Possible outcomes included the deportation of those involved, the official added.

Media reports said the foreigners were detained last week.

AFP has asked the Chinese foreign ministry for comment on the detentions.

A similar raid took place in July 2025, with 149 people — including 71 foreigners who were mostly Chinese — arrested on allegations of working for a "large call centre involving Ponzi schemes and investment fraud."

Agence France-Presse