The Higher Education Commission (HEC) has issued a public warning about increasing incidents of fraudulent activities involving scam calls and fake social media pages falsely claiming affiliation with the commission. In a public alert, the HEC stated that some imposters, claiming affiliation with the HEC, are defrauding the public by making scam calls to extract personal information for degree attestation or re-verification of already attested documents. Some individuals, posing as HEC Attestation Agents, are offering services for degree attestation, demanding excessive fees for services, far beyond the prescribed charges. Fake social media pages are also being used to deceive the public by promoting unauthorized degree verification services. The HEC has clarified that it does not employ any agents or representatives for attestation purposes and does not make unsolicited calls or contact individuals regarding these services.

The public is urged to use only the official HEC website (www.hec.gov.pk) or the HEC attestation portal (eservices.hec.gov.pk) for any degree-related verifications. The individuals are encouraged to refrain from responding to any such calls or invitations and not to trust any person or social media page claiming to provide HEC attestation services. They must report scam calls at the helpline of their telecom providers for blocking the fraudulent number or register complaint at PTA website www.pta.gov.pk or toll-free number 0800-55055. If financial fraud has occurred, the individuals must contact the State Bank of Pakistan at cpd.helpdesk@sbp.org.pk.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan