FIA busts network of illegal international gateway exchanges

[Wasim Baig]

http://thenews.jang.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=183669

Thursday, June 18, 2009
Shakeel Anjum

Islamabad

Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Cyber Crime Circle (CCC) Rawalpindi and Pakistan Telecommunication Authority have unearthed three illegal international gateway exchanges and seized three illegal telephone exchanges being run by influential Pakistani and some foreigners. Two foreigners have also been arrested during the seizure of these illegal exchanges. 

FIA Cyber Crime Circle Deputy Director Nawaz-ul-Haq Nadeem, told ‘The News’ that these illegal exchanges inflicted a loss of Rs6 billion to the national exchequer. 

He said that PTA reported to FIA that some foreigners were involved in illegal termination of international voice traffic using unauthorised Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) gateway, causing wrongful loss to the national exchequer to the tune of millions of rupees for the last six months. 

He said that their modus operandi was that international or overseas calls were converted into VoIP, and by using Internet medium the calls were transmitted to Pakistan where the illegal gateway exchanges containing mobile SIMs/IMSIs, were installed.

He said that the calls were converted from VoIP to GSM and transmitted to destination telephone numbers. It appeared to the recipients that calls were coming from local mobile telephone numbers. 

He said that the original overseas telephone numbers were masked. Some individuals /firms in China, Europe and USA/Canada were engaged in selling overseas calls/cards at flouted rates and were making payments to these foreign nationals into their bank accounts abroad, as their shares to run the illegal business in Pakistan.

He said that they have been using hundreds of SIMs of Mobilink, Telenor, Warid, and Zhong for the purpose. They obtained these SIMs in the name of Chinese nationals and companies operating in Pakistan (including M/s Yinghua International (Pvt) Ltd. and M/s Teamsun technology Pakistan (Pvt) Ltd).

The FIA director said that some of them did not know that their documents were being used for the procurements of the SIMs. “During investigation, one Chinese national namely Xu Kun handed over the electronic/digital equipment along-with accessories (containing 48 ports for Mobile SIMs), which were being used at Flat No. 409, Street No. 73, Sughra Tower, F-11/3, Islamabad.” 

He said that on his tip-off other illegal gateway exchange was discovered. The culprits were using a novel method for its concealment. They rented a flat at Millennium Tower, F-11/3 and obtained Internet connection from M/s Nayatel Islamabad. They installed illegal gateway exchange (having capacity of 108 SIMs of mobile telephone) at Flat No. C-17, Tower B, Crown Plaza in G-11/3. Both sites were linked up with the help of radio modems. 

He said that the third illegal gateway exchange (containing capacity of 144 mobile SIMs) was recovered at Flat No. 405, Street No. 73, Sughra Tower, F-11/3, Islamabad, which was operational at time of search. One Chinese national namely Liu Chang Jin was arrested on the spot. 

The FIA director general said that the matter has also been referred to Interpol for initiating action against their associates abroad and freezing their accounts in various foreign banks. According to PTA estimate, the culprits caused wrongful loss to the national exchequer to the tune of Rs600 million for the last six months. Further investigation is under process and efforts are being made to arrest other culprits.

--
wasim h. baig | principal consultant | convergence pk | +92 300 8508070 | peace be upon you ...

[Faisal Khan]

I just love the bean-counting they do. Rs. 6 Billion. They go for the maximum rate and 100% network usage and assume that is what is happening.

[Fawad Niazi]

Cant we appreciate their efforts at least...loss estimates are always like this whether done by normal person or govt when its in the favour of estimating person.

[Mansoor Adenwala]

i agree with fawad,

atleast now we have some apprehensions of 'influential persons' being done from time to time. that's a good sign nonetheless.

rgds

--
-mansoor
I'm at.:.
http://www.wordofmansoor.com  - My thoughts, my life

[Sheikh Usman N.]

As per my knowledge/experience/observation, FIA Cyber Crime Department has raided many places in past, they confiscate all the equipment and then apparently rent it out or some of their officers use it for their own illegal exchanges my friends! So, no point being so happy. And yes, do not forget, it is likely that these Chinese nationals stopped bribing these FIA personnel and in return they were raided. There are n number of possibilities. World of crime is very big. Crime is an industry with a very high employment. Remember!

--
Sheikh Usman N.

"First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight with you, then you win"
-Gandhi

[roman...@gmail.com]

There are three types of grey traffic businesses: ONE-They don,t there where abouts. TWO-they know and they are operating cuz they are giving them a certain share.THIRD-they have betrayed them cus they have refused to increase the share. This particular case is of third type. By the way I know a person who was chairman of one of the public organization in telecom business and he was running an illegal exchange by himself.

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From: "Sheikh Usman N."
Date: Thu, 18 Jun 2009 11:57:33 +0600
To: <telecom-gr...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: FIA busts network of illegal international gateway exchanges

[Kash]

FIA - The most corrupt of the LOT !!!!! , All these gateways should be made legal by implementing a small fee, everyone has got to survive and I am sure no one wants to do things the wrong ways but are FORCED to when the economic condition of the country forces you to do things you dont want 2.

 

Who is the deciding factor in Illegal Vs Legal - Is PTCL not one of the MOST illegal things in Pakistan considering the amount of BRIBEs they take in every sector why doesn't the FIA  raid their HQ and pick up their stuff , only after the poor lot

 

My 2 Cents

[Faisal Khan]

It is no secret, if you're in collusion with FIA and other parties involved (PTA included) - you can end up running a VoIP exchange. This is one of those things that people simply do not talk about, but know it is there.

[Wasim Baig]

On Fri, Jun 19, 2009 at 9:02 AM, Faisal Khan <babus...@gmail.com> wrote:

It is no secret, if you're in collusion with FIA and other parties involved (PTA included) - you can end up running a VoIP exchange. This is one of those things that people simply do not talk about, but know it is there.

Concur. Not one month goes by that we're not approached by some shady character with links in the [local PTCL exchange|FIA|PTA] who wants an SS7 injection box put on the links for a few E1. Just for a couple of months they say. Price no objection.

[Faisal Khan]

I can speak from the other end of the spectrum. Low latency VPNs requirements to boxes in various data centers.

[500...@gmail.com]

Well... I just have one thing to say here..... "Two wrongs do not make a right" ! What Faisal & Kashif are basically saying is to make every illegal activity legal so people can earn a livelihood.... Well I hate to break it to you..... It doesn't work that way..... There's a fine line & no one is suppose to cross that no matter what. Economic crunch doesn't call for these illegal activities to come into the equation. There other ways also to sustain oneself without indulging in these illegal activities. Correct me if I'm wrong?

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From: Wasim Baig
Date: Fri, 19 Jun 2009 09:11:38 +0500

To: <telecom-gr...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: FIA busts network of illegal international gateway exchanges

[Faisal Khan]

Please re-read what I had said. No where did I advocate to make illegal activities legal. I'm saying you'd be surprised how many illegal exchanges are running in this country. How many IP subnets are being put on the white lists by Narus as they are not to be looked at - why? Because higher ups are involved. This is no trade secret. If you're in the industry, almost everyone knows who the players are. From PTA, PTCL, FIA, etc. The illegal buck goes a long way here.

[Bilal Khan]

Definetly from PTA, no name and an email address with a number !

Define Illegal for me ? Please, and you will have the answer to your question..

On 6/19/09, 500...@gmail.com <500...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Well... I just have one thing to say here..... "Two wrongs do not make a
> right" ! What Faisal & Kashif are basically saying is to make every illegal
> activity legal so people can earn a livelihood.... Well I hate to break it
> to you..... It doesn't work that way..... There's a fine line & no one is
> suppose to cross that no matter what. Economic crunch doesn't call for these
> illegal activities to come into the equation. There other ways also to
> sustain oneself without indulging in these illegal activities. Correct me
> if I'm wrong?
>
>
> *** This Message Has Been Sent Using BlackBerry Internet Service from
> Mobilink ***
>

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Wasim Baig <wasi...@gmail.com>
>
> Date: Fri, 19 Jun 2009 09:11:38

> To: <telecom-gr...@googlegroups.com>
> Subject: Re: FIA busts network of illegal international gateway exchanges
>
>
> On Fri, Jun 19, 2009 at 9:02 AM, Faisal Khan <babus...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> It is no secret, if you're in collusion with FIA and other parties involved
>> (PTA included) - you can end up running a VoIP exchange. This is one of
>> those things that people simply do not talk about, but know it is there.
>
>
> Concur. Not one month goes by that we're not approached by some shady
> character with links in the [local PTCL exchange|FIA|PTA] who wants an SS7
> injection box put on the links for a few E1. Just for a couple of months
> they say. Price no objection.
> --
> wasim h. baig | principal consultant | convergence pk | +92 300 8508070 |
> peace be upon you ...
>
>
>
>
> >
>

--
Sent from my mobile device

Sincerely,
Bilal Khan
QixTel Communications
Tel: +92-91-5830528
Mob: +92-313-559-3366

[Haris Shamsi]

some one just asked me ... how we can block a google list ........ lol just j/k

[Bilal Khan]

LOL, I am sure there will be people who would want the list to be closed !!

[Sheikh Usman N.]

I am sorry, but what you are saying is perhaps totally out of context. There is nothing illegal in VoIP in most parts of world, Pakistan is the odd one out. All Faisal and Kashif are trying to say is to join the most part of world where VoIP is an accepted means.

There can possibly be 64k ports on any of the protocols, so its a zero-sum game. You cannot distinguish between data and voice - I do not think that theoretically there is a possibility for this. It is just a non-stop non-sense to me. Perhaps it is in the interests of higher ups in PTA/FIA Cyber Crime to continue with this policy in order to come up with some number of criminals they caught in the category of 'cyber crime'. Frankly, this law is no law. It doesn't help anyone. Not even PTA!

I totally agree with Faisal and Kashif, they are asking it to be accepted legally and then properly regulated so that it remains under umbrella and can properly be monitored instead of this hide and seek going on.

On Fri, Jun 19, 2009 at 11:22 AM, <500...@gmail.com> wrote:

[mumai...@gmail.com]

So at least some chairman is technically stron ;)

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From: roman...@gmail.com
Date: Thu, 18 Jun 2009 10:37:08 +0000

[Faisal Khan]

You'll have Skype detection, but then it will start tunneling in Port 80 and other known protocols or GRE / VPN it P2P style, then there is nothing you can do about it. Skype is 'notorious' for changing their alogrithms so that DPI companies have a hard time detecting it. Those that can detect it - is all that they can do. IPDR is not available for the Party A/Party B scenario in Skype.

[Zaeem Arshad]

On Sat, Jun 20, 2009 at 1:27 AM, Faisal Khan <babus...@gmail.com> wrote:

You'll have Skype detection, but then it will start tunneling in Port 80 and other known protocols or GRE / VPN it P2P style, then there is nothing you can do about it. Skype is 'notorious' for changing their alogrithms so that DPI companies have a hard time detecting it. Those that can detect it - is all that they can do. IPDR is not available for the Party A/Party B scenario in Skype.

On a related note, PTA is not really after the Skype guys honestly. How many raids have been carried out at homes using Skype? I guess that number is fairly close to nought. Not getting into the issue of FIA/PTA colluding with the "bad guys", a few of the raids that I am personally aware of have been carried at sites involved in illegal termination.

Also, it appears that PTA has finally started to get hold of the NARUS system. Are you still facing blocking on Skype using IP addresses? The ratio of FPs has gone down imho. 

I do agree with what you have said in an earlier post. Regulation of this sector can bring order to this chaos but this order is not in the interest of LDIs who really don't want ISPs opening up to the competition - the reason being the cost of entry for ISPs in this sector is comparatively low due to their reach, IP infrastructure and a general availability of techies. Hence, the pressure on PTA to force ISPs to curb voice by whatever means possisble even if that means the death of the industry.


Regards

--
Zaeem

[Faisal Khan]

Today Grey traffic tomorrow Skype.... (call me skeptical, call me a pessimist - but all bets are off when it comes to these spooks).

[Zaeem Arshad]

On Sat, Jun 20, 2009 at 3:04 AM, Faisal Khan <babus...@gmail.com> wrote:

Today Grey traffic tomorrow Skype.... (call me skeptical, call me a pessimist - but all bets are off when it comes to these spooks).

I wouldn't call you skeptical but do consider the economics of detecting and blocking skype traffic? They will always go for the big fish that refuses to play by the 'rules'. Catching kids using skype doesn't make for a good story either.

[Faisal Khan]

I'll wholeheartedly subscribe to voice blocking and detection ONLY if the following are met:

1. Oversight committee.
2. Civilian and industry rotating committees on the watchdog.
3. A clear and identified standard operating procedure.
4. The monitoring is done via some form of a feed that goes out to these groups/oversight committees.

Again, I stress it is not the revenue leakage I am concerned about, I am more concerned about the corrupt elements within PTA, FIA, PTCL, et. al, that DO exist. Collusion is happening. Until that is not taken care of, and 'total' transparency doesn't exisit in the monitoring/detection, this whole thing will blow up amny times over like what happened to Faisal Chohan!.

[Kash]

My 5 Cents.........................

 

I think they poor guy (exchange wala) was late in sending the Fraudlent Investigation Agency (FIA) their HAFTA, so his equipment was rented to some other exchange wala who is doing business now......

[mumai...@gmail.com]

Dear faisal

In my view, PTA can resolve the issue of in another way. It can include ISP representatives in the committee monitoring IP bandwidth. On knowing IP of an ISP involved in grey traffic, the concerned ISP representative can be asked to take action againt the grey operator, especially catching the operator, instead of making ISP responsible for operation.
RD
Umair

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From: Faisal Khan
Date: Sat, 20 Jun 2009 18:39:28 +0600

To: <telecom-gr...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: FIA busts network of illegal international gateway exchanges

[Faisal Khan]

That is the need of the hour... transparency, accountability and a better (thought through) operating procedures.

[Kash]

In total agreement ..................

[Fawad Niazi]

SELF REGULATION is KEY. We need to be honest nation at large...Everybody should pass the test of morality and integrity whenever they get into some sort of conflicting situation-to do/help a bad thing/person or not to do...other wise someone will be pointing out fingers on suggested committees that HAFTA requirement has been increased.

 

May be involving 100 of Superviser may serve the cause by making this thing unattractive (HAFTA*2 to 3 Agencies VS HAFTA * 8-10 Agencies/Committee Members).

 

Need to have trust in your peers and cross industry stakeholders while maintaining the integrity...

[Faisal Khan]

We all need to stop at red traffic lights, but we don't. Self-regulation is easier said than done. Without oversight, I am afraid regulation of any kind - should be questioned.

[Sheikh Usman N.]

Illegal gateway exchange seized during raid

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), in collaboration with Federal investigation Agency (FIA) officials has busted another illegal international gateway exchange here, making a total tally of six within two months. Official press release issued here on Thursday revealed that this particular illegal gateway exchange was operational in a posh locality of F – 7/2, Islamabad and was being operated by Pakistani and foreign nationals. The highly professional team of the PTA was able to recover a number of gateways and machines being used to bypass the legal route. staff report

URL: http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2009\07\03\story_3-7-2009_pg5_14