FIA Cybercrime Regional Offices: Which One Handles Your Complaint

A common reason complaints stall is that people either travel to the wrong city or give up when told a matter belongs to another zone. In cybercrime the connecting factors are usually where the complainant is and where the loss was suffered, both of which are normally where you already are.

How jurisdiction is worked out

For an offence committed through an information system, the connecting factors typically include:

• Where the complainant is located when the offence has effect on them.
• Where the loss or harm occurred, for example the branch or account from which money left.
• Where the offender or the device is located, if known.

Because the first two usually point at your own city, the practical answer for most complainants is: file where you live. If the enquiry needs to be pursued elsewhere, that is an internal transfer, not something you should be arranging by travelling.

If a centre tells you the case belongs to another zone, ask for that in writing and ask them to forward it. A written refusal or a transfer note gives you something to follow up on. Being turned away verbally with no record is the point at which most complaints die.

Finding the right centre

1. Open fia.gov.pk and go to the cybercrime or NR3C section.
2. Identify the reporting centre listed for your city, or the nearest one.
3. Call ahead to confirm the address, timings and that the centre handles your category.
4. If there is no centre in your city, use the online portal or call 1991 to be routed.

FIA maintains cybercrime centres across all four provinces, Islamabad, AJK and Gilgit-Baltistan. Addresses and direct numbers change as offices move, so verify on the official site rather than relying on a list republished elsewhere - including this one. See our helpline and offices guide.

When the offender is in another city

This is the most common worry and the least justified. You do not need to travel.

• File where you are. The harm to you occurred where you were.
• Give every identifier you have about the offender's location - phone number, account details, city mentioned in conversation, bank branch.
• Expect an internal transfer if the investigation needs to be conducted elsewhere. Ask for the transfer reference so you can follow up.
• Do not file duplicates in two cities. It fragments the file and each office may assume the other is dealing with it.

When the offender is outside Pakistan

A great deal of online fraud and sextortion targeting Pakistanis is run from abroad. Filing is still worthwhile:

• The money usually lands locally at some point, in a Pakistani account or wallet held by a real, identifiable person.
• Local facilitators - people who allow their accounts to be used - are within reach and are frequently the route into the wider network.
• Platform data can be requested through lawful channels regardless of the offender's location.
• Takedowns work anyway. Platform reporting is not limited by jurisdiction.

Be realistic that a purely foreign, anonymous offender using foreign infrastructure may never be identified. That is a reason to prioritise takedown and containment alongside the complaint, not a reason to skip the complaint.

If you are the one overseas

Overseas Pakistanis can file through the online portal without returning. To make it work:

• Give a reachable phone number and email, and check them, since investigators will call at Pakistani office hours.
• Nominate a contact in Pakistan who can attend on your behalf where needed.
• Instruct a lawyer under a properly attested power of attorney to file and follow up, which is the practical solution where the matter needs anyone to physically attend.

Preparing for an in-person visit

An in-person visit is the most effective route for serious matters, and the difference between a productive visit and a wasted day is almost entirely preparation.

Take with you:

• Original CNIC and photocopies.
• A written application setting out the complaint in numbered paragraphs, with your contact details at the top.
• Printed evidence, indexed and in date order, with URLs and timestamps visible.
• The device itself, with the original messages intact and not deleted.
• Financial records where money is involved, including the beneficiary account number.
• A blank notebook to record who you met, when, and what was said.

Before you leave the office: ask for a complaint or diary number, note the name and designation of the officer, and ask what the next step is and when you should follow up. A visit that produces no reference number and no name is very difficult to build on.

What to do when an enquiry stalls

Complaints go quiet for ordinary reasons - workload, awaiting data from a platform, an officer transferred. A stalled file is usually revived by persistence rather than by starting again.

1. Follow up in writing, quoting the complaint or diary number, and keep a copy of every follow-up.
2. Ask specifically what is outstanding. "What is required from me to move this forward?" gets a more useful answer than "what is the status".
3. Supply anything new promptly - a fresh message from the offender, a new account, another victim who has come forward.
4. Escalate within the office to a supervising officer if there is no movement over a reasonable period.
5. Do not file a duplicate. A second complaint about the same facts fragments the file and each office may assume the other is handling it.
6. Instruct a lawyer where the matter is serious. Correspondence on a firm's letterhead, quoting the file reference and the provisions engaged, tends to receive a different response.

Keep one continuous file with every reference number, date and name in it. When a case has to be escalated, a documented six-month trail of your own follow-ups is far more persuasive than a recollection of phone calls.

Frequently asked questions