Company:ABTACH
ABTACH is a Pakistani software company that runs numerous websites selling fake certificates.
History
ABTACH was founded by Azneem Bilwani who serves as its owner and chief executive officer (CEO). The other main officials are Salman M. Yousuf who is working chief operating officer and Muhammad Saad Iqbal and Ms. Irsa Farooquias as presidents. According to the official website, the company was established in 2015 in Pakistan. The head office of the company is situated in Karachi, Pakistan and also operating in different countries.[1]
Fake Certificates Scandal
Official Investigation
A confidential Source Report having subject "Operation Against international Scammers” was produced by the Spy agency on 11-09-2020 and forwarded to the Director General, FIA through the Ministry of interior on 28-09-2020. The source report identified 05 international scammers companies, who are allegedly involved in harassment, fraudulent activities, identity theft, impersonating, cheating, phishing extortion etc. and were tarnishing the reputation of Pakistan.
The said source report was subsequently assigned to the FIA Cyber Crime Karachi for registration of case and initiation of legal action. Enquiry No. 560 (ABTACH), 561 (Legendesk), 562 (Grakos) were assigned to Insp. Muhammad Naeem Awan, besides, Enquiry No. 563 (Salsoft) & 564 (Digitonics) were initiated by the FIA, CCRC, Karachi, for enquiry & report, During the enquiry stage, many efforts were made to understand the functioning of the international scammers identified in the source report. This included the deployment of patriotic sources and applying social engineering methods against the 05 alleged entities.
Finally, on the basis of enquiry No. 560/2020, the FIA after getting search and seizure warrant from the Court, a raid was carried out at the office of ABTACH and seized digital equipment which was sent to forensic lab for examination. Later on, notices were served upon Muhammad Azneem Bilwani (CEO) Salman M. Yousuf (COO) Saad Iqbal (President) Saqib Zubair (I.T. Head) Vinky Bashir but none of them was appeared before the FIA CCRC, Karachi.[2]
FIR against ABTACH’s officials
On 30-03-2021, FIR No.09/2021 was registered by FIA CCRC, Karachi under section 13, 14, 16, 20, 26 Prevention of Electronic Crime Act, 2016 read with 34, 109, 383, 419, 420, 468, 471, Pakistan Penal Code read with 3/4, Anti Money Laundering Act, 2010 Amended in 2020 for harassment, fraudulent activities, identity theft, impersonating, cheating, extortion etc. against following officials of ABTACH:[3]
- Azneem Bilwani (CEO)
- Muhammad Saad Iqbal (President)
- Salman Yousuf (COO)
- Irsa Farooqui, Amir Ali (President)
and others
Interim Charge Sheet
On 15-04-2021, the Cyber Crime Reporting Circle, Karachi, filed Interim Charge Sheet/Interim Challan in the Court of 1st Judicial Magistrate Karachi South. The Investigation officer of the case has stated in the Interim Charge Sheet/Challan that initial forensic analysis report has been issued by the Forensic Lab of FIA CCRC Karachi which show recovery of suspicious/incriminating material i.e. credit card information of the foreign clients including “cvv” security code stored by the employees of the alleged company & certificates of copyright registration found under the seal of GCR (Global Copyright Registry). A large number of fake/fabricated certificates purportedly issued by the USPTO’s were also found available in the editable soft-form from the recovered system of ABTACH.
Interim Charge Sheet/ Challan has disclosed that after initial forensics report of the digital evidences, it came on record that various websites were found as phishing websites currently operated having dummy addresses of USA. The said websites were used to create and register the logos and trademarks for the foreign clients and their associated businesses are currently running/managed from the office of the ABTACH.
Interim Charge Sheet/ Challan further revealed that under the directions of accused persons, these phishing websites were used to cheat international clients in order to obtain illegal financial gains. WhatsApp chats were also found which are related to the clients demanding refund and complaints where they have not been provided the services or extra charges were demanded and overcharging was performed by the company.
Interim Charge Sheet/ Challan further disclosed that initial forensic report of the seized digital devices further revealed that up-sale agents of ABTACH were using blackmailing techniques, charging, client’s credit/debit card without their authorization, up-sale agents call the clients and tell that they would not be able to use their product, if more money would not be paid, the businesses & websites would be blacklisted. It was further revealed that alleged persons called the clients pretending/impersonating to be the officers of the United States Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) and ask client to pay more money, if client wants logo/website/content to be registered with USPTO, otherwise, all previous money which client paid for trade marking will be confiscated and further they were warned about the breach of GDRR (General Data Protection Regulation).
The call center agents of ABTACH used Pseudo names for calling to international customers to avoid involving any legalities. It is further stated that multiple bank accounts are being maintained in the names of suspects as beneficial owners of the funds which are received int eh grab of sale of software to lauder their ill-gotten money. It was further revealed that accused persons mentioned above & others are found as International Financial Scammers involved in Electronic Forgery, Electronic Froud, Unauthorized use of Identity information, unauthorized trademark & logo registration, offence against dignity of natural person, spoofing, impersonating, cheating, forgery, harassment, fraudulent activities, identity theft, phishing, defamation for money in the name of up-sale, money laundering etc. under the shadow of software house namely ABTACH.
Show Cause Order by US government
US government officially issued Show Cause Order accused ABTACH and its two companies namely M/s 360 Digital Marketing and M/s Retrocube and their officials available at the official website of USPTO.[4]
As per show cause order, the official states that ABTACH and its two companies namely M/s 360 Digital Marketing and M/s Retrocube and their officials engage in unauthorized and improper activities before the USPTO. The fraudulent activities of the ABTACH and its two companies namely M/s 360 Digital Marketing and M/s Retrocube and their officials have been described in news articles, examples of which are attached as Exhibits B – F to this Order. The overview that follows focuses on activities that involve the USPTO. ABTACH and its two companies namely M/s 360 Digital Marketing and M/s Retrocube and their officials provide owner email addresses for correspondence that they control rather than the owner’s actual email address, resulting in ABTACH and its two companies namely M/s 360 Digital Marketing and M/s Retrocube and their officials receiving USPTO communications intended for the applicant, which ABTACH & its officials then modify.[4]
It was further stated in the above order that the Trademark Filing Entities advertise extensively via search engines, touting falsely low fees (starting at $99) and timeframes (7 minutes) to register a trademark. In some cases, the ads say that the services are endorsed by the USPTO, as shown in the order: In other cases, customers of the various logo design companies may be sent correspondence about their logo by ABTACH and its two companies namely M/s 360 Digital Marketing and M/s Retrocube and their officials, threatening a loss or rights and containing an attached letter ABTACH & its officials claim to have been sent from the USPTO, on USPTO letterhead, and featuring the USPTO seal. [4]
The fraudulent letter purports to be “official notification” informing the customer that the USPTO has received a request from someone else to register the same name, logo, or slogan as the customer’s, that the customer is required to have their mark registered with the USPTO and to “get it registered within the next 72 hours” or else the USPTO will register the mark to the other applicant, and the customer will be required to change their mark. If a customer wants to comply with the fake demand letter, Respondents prepare and file the application with the USPTO.[4]
The order said that regardless of which Trademark Filing Entity its customers choose, Respondents have filed most of the impacted applications using USPTO.gov accounts registered to email addresses apparently connected to Trademark Terminal.9 Further, applications listing email addresses associated with Trademark Axis, Trademark Falcon, Trademark Regal, and Trademark Terminal have been filed from overlapping IP addresses, resolving to Internet service providers in Karachi, Pakistan. For example, Trademark Terminal filed Trademark Application Serial No. 88836548 for the mark TRADEMARK TERMINAL on March 16, 2020, Trademark Falcon filed Trademark Application Serial No. 90186313 for the mark TRADEMARK FALCON on September 16, 2020, and Trademark Regal filed Trademark Application Serial No. 90186341 for the mark TRADEMARK REGAL on September 16, 2020. All three applications were filed from the same IP Address located in Karachi, Pakistan, using the same USPTO.gov account.[4]
Network of websites
ABTACH and its alliance companies operate many other websites purporting to offer low cost logo design, search engine optimization, and digital marketing services which are promoted as distinct companies, but are ultimately controlled by Respondents. The USPTO has evidence suggesting that:[4]
http://www.manhattandigital.org
http://www.uptownlogodesign.com
References
- ↑ "ABTACH Company Profile". https://www.abtach.com/who-we-are/.
- ↑ Hussain, Arshad. "FIA Registers Fraud Cases Against Major Karachi Software Houses". https://www.thecorrespondent.pk/business/fia-registers-fraud-case-against-major-karachi-software-house/.
- ↑ Ibn Hassan, Asad (April 6, 2021). "Case against IT company Aptech registered". The News. https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/815655-case-against-it-company-aptech-registered.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 Cotton, Amy (November 3, 2021). "Show Cause Order to ABTACH". United States Patent and Trademark Office. p. Page 1. https://www.uspto.gov/sites/default/files/documents/TM-Show-Cause-Order-Abtach-et-al.pdf.
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