Caught in ‘easy money’ scam
Faysal Ahmed (pseudonym) found himself entangled in a web of deceit that began with a seemingly innocuous message on WhatsApp. A promise of an online job, offering payment for simple product or service reviews, lured Faysal into a fraudulent scheme that ultimately cost him a fortune.
He was added to a Telegram group named "Advanced Tasks 444". Initially enticed by the prospect of easy earnings, Faysal diligently performed the assigned tasks. For a while, he did receive payments -- up to Tk 7,895.
Then the story started taking a dark turn. The fraudster, operating under the guise of a job provider, persuaded Faysal to register on a site called "C-Finance". He was asked to pay a registration fee of Tk 9,000. A few days later, he was told to deposit Tk 36,000, and the stakes kept rising. Faysal ended up paying a total of Tk 9.09 lakh in different phases, only to realise later that he had fallen into a trap.
But by then, it was too late.
Faysal is not alone. He is just one of at least 100 Bangladeshi victims who have been targeted by a network of Bangladeshi and Chinese nationals orchestrating elaborate scams.
The modus operandi of the group is simple. At first, they try to entice youths by showing them a way to earn easy money. If that doesn't work, they employ blackmailing techniques like honey traps, said Saifur Rahman Azad, additional deputy commissioner of DB police.
"Most of these scams are operated using pre-registered sims," he added.
The Cyber and Special Crime Divisions of the police's detective branch have uncovered the findings after an investigation following a case filed by Faysal on November 11.
Over the past two months, law enforcement has arrested over a dozen people in connection with such fraudulent activities.
On November 25, fifteen individuals, including a Chinese national, were arrested by detectives for their involvement in loan scams. On January 3 and January 14, eight more individuals and another fraudster, respectively, were apprehended in connection with similar schemes.
Despite this, unsuspecting individuals continue to fall victim to these deceptive gangs.
Take the case of Kamrul Hasan (alias), a Gopalganj resident, who recently received a call from a Bangladeshi number offering a freelance job that included tasks like subscribing to YouTube channels, liking Facebook videos, and providing reviews with 5-star ratings -- all in exchange for what seemed like easy money.
Intrigued by the simplicity of the job, Kamrul decided to give it a try. Initially, he earned Tk 300 through mobile financial services by completing tasks such as subscribing to YouTube channels. Promised a gradual increase in salary for more tasks, Kamrul joined a Telegram group comprising 70 participants.
The fraudulent group then provided a list of mobile numbers, encouraging individuals to complete tasks by paying amounts ranging from Tk 2,000 to Tk 5,000, promising lucrative returns.
Kamrul, eager for more earnings, borrowed Tk 5,000 from friends and invested again. However, this time, the scammers did not fulfil their promise and demanded an additional Tk 19,000.
When Kamrul refused, he was removed from the Telegram channel.
He is among 15 people this correspondent talked to who got lured by enticing messages and calls, offering part-time or freelance jobs that involve tasks related to recharge and cashback, ultimately leading them into the clutches of digital frauds. The mediums for such fraudulent activities were mostly WhatsApp and Telegram.
Abu Saeed Khan, senior policy fellow at LIRNEasia, a Colombo-based think-tank, told The Daily Star, "Fraudulence, although one of the oldest crimes, has assumed new forms in the digital age. People succumb to digital scams primarily due to their greed. It's essential to recognise that earning easy money is not realistic."
Junaed Alam Sharker, the additional deputy commissioner of DB police, said, "Frequently, these messages and calls originate from foreign numbers, involving individuals from China and Nigeria. There's a possibility of a few Indian nationals being involved in such scams as well."
Describing it as an organised scam operation, Junaed added, "These scammers employ Bangladeshi individuals to execute the fraud, laundering the money through informal channels, primarily utilising cryptocurrency."
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