Will there be no end to loan scams?

It is alarming to know that some 506 vulnerable individuals in Rangamati's Langadu upazila—including day labourers, fishermen, destitute women, and beggars—have been exploited by taking loans in their names from Sonali Bank. As per a report by Prothom Alo, the loans were acquired between 2012 and 2014, using their NID cards collected under the pretext of giving them government grants, and it was only recently that they became aware of this when they received notice letters from the bank. The total amount of loans could be Tk 15 million, which they must pay with the accumulated interests.

The incident has once again highlighted the vulnerability of our banking system and personal data held by government agencies. Questions have naturally been raised about the involvement of local middlemen and Sonali Bank officers who disbursed the loans without proper investigation. In a country where loan scams and defaulting have become the norm, such schemes are perhaps to be expected; identity theft just adds a variety to this mix. The Langadu scam took place about a decade ago, but Bangladesh clearly hasn't made much progress from those days of data vulnerability. Over the last several years, we've seen a number of similar financial crimes on the cyberspace as well as massive data breaches exposing personal details of millions of citizens. It's frightening to think those datasets could be exploited to target anyone.

Right now, the main concern for the Langadu victims is the burden of loans which, as per the local UNO, cannot be averted, although the bank can waive the interests if it wants. This is unacceptable. Why do these people, who are mostly landless and impoverished, have to pay for the crimes and dereliction of some other people? Their suffering may not end with this scam as their personal data is already exposed. We, therefore, urge the authorities to relieve them from any consequence thereof. They also must conduct a thorough investigation into the scam, punish the perpetrators, and ensure that no financial fraud of this nature occurs again.