CYBERCRIME-ORIENTED AND DIGITALIZED FINANCE FRAUD IN PAKISTAN: A CASE OF FRAUD-AS-A-SERVICE (FAAS)

Abstract

This article undertakes a nuanced examination of the emergent paradigm of Platformized Cybercrime, with a particular focus on Fraud-as-a-Service (FaaS) within the Pakistani digital financial ecosystem. Against the backdrop of an accelerated trajectory toward digital financial inclusion—catalyzed by regulatory reforms, innovative fintech platforms, and national payment infrastructure—the proliferation of cyber-enabled financial fraud has concomitantly intensified. Central to this transformation is the systemic shift from traditional, isolated cyber offenders to a modular, commodified ecosystem orchestrated via digital platforms, thereby intricately intertwining technical enablers, social engineering actors, and financial intermediaries within transnational, networked architectures. This reconceptualization elucidates the deficiencies inherent within Pakistan’s existing legislative framework—principally the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act 2016, the Pakistan Penal Code, and sectoral regulatory regimes—which remain predicated on an offender-centric, fragmented model incapable of adequately addressing the ecosystemic and platform-mediated dimensions of contemporary fraud. Accordingly, the paper advocates for a paradigm shift rooted in systemic risk governance, emphasizing the necessity for proactive, rights-sensitive regulatory interventions—embodied through duty of care obligations, inter-agency coordination, and comprehensive transparency mechanisms—that align domestic legal architectures with international best practices exemplified by the European Union’s Digital Services Act and the United Kingdom’s Online Safety legislation. Ultimately, this study underscores the imperative for Pakistan to migrate from reactive criminal sanctions towards an integrated, multi-stakeholder governance approach that safeguards digital financial trust while upholding constitutional principles, thereby ensuring resilience against the proliferating menace of platformized cybercrime.