The Interior Ministry, in its statement, said that investigators would determine whether Axact “is involved in any such illegal work which can tarnish the good image of the country in the world.”

But Axact did have some supporters, largely among conservative and military-friendly commentators who, looking beyond the company’s business dealings, said they resented the fact that officials had moved so quickly on the basis of an American news report. “Govt action against a Pakistani company based on a foreign feature story is a scandal,” the columnist Ahmed Quraishi posted in a Twitter message.

More broadly, though, social media was the scene of some of the most withering criticisms of the Axact business model, as journalists and other Pakistanis, apparently uninhibited by fear of legal action on the part of Axact, scoured Axact-run websites and mocked the company’s chief executive, Mr. Shaikh.

Bloggers examined the company’s network of online universities and high schools, which carry American-sounding names like Barkley and Columbiana, and publicized the names of other sites that they said were operated by the company, and that went beyond a list published by The Times on Sunday.

Investigators homed in on accusations from former employees that Axact had illegally sold American government authentication to pad its profits. Local news media reported that the police had discovered State Department certificates and letterheads for some of the company’s nonexistent universities during the raid on its premises.

In all, The Times has identified 145 university sites, 41 high school and 18 fake accreditation body websites, as well as 121 degree portals, that strongly appear to be operated by Axact, based on comparison of coding blocks and of site content and design.

Several people who identified themselves as former Axact employees contacted The Times, offering accounts of their experiences working at the company. By Tuesday morning, phone lines at some of the university websites run by Axact were not being answered, and efforts by reporters to contact sales agents through text messaging received no response.