Cybercrime is on the rise in the Sialkot district of the Punjab province, the 24NewsHD TV channel reported on Tuesday.

The industrial district's citizens have been falling victim to unknown calls demanding ransom. They have been making a litany of complaints to the police and anti-cybercrime squad but to no avail.

Hackers are targeting noted personalities and robbing them. Journalists are too unsafe. The father of a private TV reporter, Mian Nadeem, too fell a victim to this crime.

Since Nadeem's phone was hacked, he could not be contacted. As soon as the family established contact with Nadeem, they learned that no kidnapping had occurred.

The mother of Nadeem suffered from traumatic stress after the incident. A case has been lodged and an investigation is on. The locals made an appeal to the authorities to step up the effort to bring to book the culprits and remove the sense of insecurity from the industrial hub of the province.