NCCIA saves Karachi teenager from dark web-linked online group
Karachi skyline (file photo: Karachi Skyline 2025, Wikimedia Commons, CC0). The Board of Approvals has designated Karachi Industrial Park as a federal Special Economic Zone.
KARACHI: Pakistan’s National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) has rescued a 13-year-old girl in Karachi from an online group linked to the dark web, reaching her before she could carry out the group’s next dangerous instruction. The agency’s Karachi Additional Director, Tariq Nawaz, disclosed the intervention on Friday.
According to Nawaz, the case began with a tip from a foreign crime investigation agency, which flagged suspicious activity through an email. NCCIA investigators traced the internet protocol (IP) address behind it and found that it belonged to a teenage girl. The inquiry established that she had first come into contact with the group through social media and was later given a series of tasks over a messaging application.
The group’s dangerous instructions
Officials say the group first ordered the girl to harm a pet, an instruction she carried out. She was then told to harm herself — but the NCCIA team reached her before that instruction could be acted on. The devices she had been using have been analysed and taken into custody for further examination.
Her parents told the agency that her behaviour had changed over the past three to four months. She often seemed upset, they said, but would not explain what was troubling her despite repeated questions. Officials say psychological counselling has been provided to help her recover from the trauma.
A warning for parents
The NCCIA says its investigation is continuing, including whether the group targeted other children and who is behind it. Officials have urged parents to keep an eye on children’s online activity: groups of this kind, they warn, make first contact through social media and then tighten their grip step by step.
