Islamabad: Director General of the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) Syed Khurram Ali on Friday announced a comprehensive action plan to tackle the growing threat of WhatsApp hacking, including the establishment of an online helpline and a nationwide public awareness campaign in collaboration with Meta.

Speaking about the rising trend of cyber fraud, the DG NCCIA said that increased internet and mobile phone usage in Pakistan had also led to a surge in cybercrime and online scams. Although incidents of WhatsApp hacking had declined in some cases, cybercriminals were continuously adopting new methods to target users.

He said an online helpline would soon be launched to facilitate the recovery of hacked WhatsApp accounts, while awareness campaigns in local languages would be conducted jointly with Meta to educate citizens on online safety.

Syed Khurram Ali urged the public to activate two-step verification on their WhatsApp accounts and never share one-time passwords (OTPs) or verification codes with anyone, describing the disclosure of such codes as the leading cause of account hacking.

He further said that several cybercrime gangs operating in Pakistan had been arrested through international cooperation, while work was also underway on advanced technological solutions to prevent the misuse of OTPs.

The DG NCCIA advised citizens to adopt all necessary security measures to protect their WhatsApp accounts and bank accounts, avoid sharing sensitive information in response to suspicious calls or messages, and immediately report any cyber fraud to the relevant authorities.