Cybercrimes against women rampant

Cybercriminals are abusing social media to exploit, blackmail, and bully young women and children in astonishing numbers.

Police Cyber Support for Woman (PCSW) wing of the Police Headquarters has received at least 15,000 complaints related to such cybercrimes in the seven months since its formation.

The complaint made by the mother of Antika (not her real name), 16, is one of them.

The student of a renowned school started using social media to stay in touch with friends as her school has been closed for over a year.

She met a young man on video sharing app Likee, formerly Like. The man lied about his age, education, and family background and developed a relationship with her.

Months later, Antika figured out what was going on but by then it was too late. He had gotten hold of her private photos and video clips.

When Antika broke it off with the man, he uploaded the photos and videos to different social media platforms.

The PCSW was able to trace the suspect after Antika's mother filed a complaint. Legal action was being taken against the man.

It is not just Likee that the criminals are using. TikTok, Bigo Live, Imo and Facebook are being used as well. A large number of the criminals also harass girls over the phone, according to sources in the PCSW.

Law enforcement agencies recently unearthed human trafficking rackets who used TikTok to lure girls with "well-paying jobs in India" and use them as sex workers.

It was recently discovered that Bigo Live was being used for paid illicit shows. An agent and the country manager of the app was arrested for the hosting of live-streaming shows of girls for paid customers on the platform.

TYPES OF COMPLAINTS

The Daily Star obtained data on 10,040 complaints made via the PCSW Facebook page. The wing also received complaints via phone and email.

The PCSW was able to address 4,703 of the complaints by taking actions like legal steps, taking down content from the internet, etc.

According to the data, the most common crime, 28.07 percent, is creating fake accounts with the victim's name and slandering her. Exposing the victims' private contents account for 20.95 percent of the complaints.

At least 4.36 percent of the complaints were specifically on spreading private nude photos.

A staggering 10 percent was on blackmailing while hacking accounts accounted for 7.8 percent of the complaints.

The progress of PCSW has been hampered largely by victims not sharing the information the wing needs for the probe. At least 1,659 of the victims refused to share information when the PCSW asked for details regarding 2,558 complainants.

The victims of cybercrimes are mostly aged between 17 and 30.

Mir Abu Touhid, assistant inspector general at the PHQ, said many victims were not interested in filing cases against the perpetrators, fearing further trouble.

The case of Nila (not her real name) is a case in point.

She met an expat on social media who was living in the middle-east.

They eloped but soon it was discovered the man was having an affair.

After Nila divorced him, her ex-husband opened fake social media accounts on her name and started sharing personal photos of her.

Nila filed a general diary (GD) but refused to file a case considering her and her family's names would be dragged through the mud.

Her ex-husband was released after signing a document that he would not do it again.

TRAFFICKED INTO INDIA

The recent revelation of trafficking of some Bangladeshi girls to India and forcing them into sex work has made headlines. The criminals used the app TikTok to lure the girls into the trap.

After a video clip of a 22-year-old woman being tortured and sexually assaulted in India went viral on social media, the law enforcers in Bangladesh found the racket involving Bangladeshis and Indians.

Investigators said that the racket had trafficked 50 girls over the last two years and that its network stretches to the UAE and some other Middle East countries.

Salma Ali, president of Bangladesh National Woman Lawyers' Association, told The Daily Star that the lack of victim support, expertise in cyber policing at police stations, and fear of further problems were discouraging people against filing cases.

She observed that cybercrimes were on the rise as schools and colleges have been closed for more than a year.

"The teenagers and youths are spending a lot of time on cyberspace. The easy access to social media has made it easy for criminals to target young women. The women with minimal digital literacy are becoming an easy prey for them.

"Instead of putting a ban on platforms like TikTok and Likee, the government should find a better way to monitor these platforms so that such crimes can't take place using these platforms."

Mir Abu Touhid, the AIG at the PHQ, said they have a special social media monitoring team at the PHQ and a decision has been made recently to increase the monitoring and hold the service providers accountable.

They would send directives soon to all police stations, he added.

Rezaul Masud, special superintendent (Cyber Intelligence and Risk Management) of the CID, told The Daily Star that they have a monitoring process to check which applications were harmful and were in violation of the law.