Scammer: Hello, how are you, sir?
Answer: I’m good. Who is this?
Scammer: I’m Maria from Scam Digital Marketing Company. Can you speak in English?
Answer: Yes.
Scammer: Actually, our company provides part-time online jobs, where you can easily earn 1000-2000 taka every day.
Many of you might have already received such calls. By responding to these offers of online part-time income, thousands of people have already lost large amounts of money, and many more continue to fall prey to these scams. Through these fraudulent schemes, crooks are siphoning off billions of taka from the country through hundi (illegal money transfers). Recently, the frequency of such calls has increased compared to before. These scams are not limited to Bangladesh; they are happening worldwide. According to an FBI report, U.S. citizens lost $10 billion to fake call scams in 2022 alone. One of the key players behind these fake call scams is India. In today’s video, we’ll shed light on this new and sophisticated scam, how India is involved, and why Bangladesh has become a new target for this scam.
Overview
When mobile phones first became common in Bangladesh, scams like the “Jinn King” type used to happen frequently. While most of them were prank calls, some incidents did involve real fraud, where unsuspecting individuals were scammed out of their money. Before 2010, a common scam involved fraudsters calling and claiming that a large amount of money had mistakenly been recharged to your phone number, followed by a fake SMS confirming the recharge. They would then request that the amount be refunded. Many people, believing the fraudsters’ words and seeing the SMS, would send money back. Another scam involved calls claiming that you had won a large lottery from Coca-Cola, Pepsi, or another major brand, and you had to recharge a certain amount to claim the prize. Many people fell for this and sent money. After the launch of mobile financial services (MFS) in 2011, scammers took advantage of users’ ignorance, calling and claiming that a mistake had been made, or posing as customer service agents requesting updates for security purposes. They would gather all necessary information, including PIN codes, leading to fraud. With the arrival of MFS apps, the amount of fraud involving PINs increased further. In short, phone-based scams are nothing new in Bangladesh.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, many of us have received SMS or WhatsApp messages offering part-time online work where you could earn thousands of taka daily. Over the past few months, these offers have escalated to direct phone calls. Initially, these calls came from foreign numbers, but more recently, they are coming from Bangladeshi numbers. The person on the other end usually speaks in English, though their accent often reveals that they are from India or an African country. They claim to represent an “online digital marketing company” and offer online work. They promise earnings of 100-150 taka per task and daily earnings of 2000-3000 taka. If you agree to their offer, they will first give you two sample tasks via WhatsApp. These tasks usually involve subscribing to a YouTube channel or following an Instagram handle. Once you complete the tasks and send screenshots on WhatsApp, they instruct you to add the company’s receptionist on Telegram and send them a message requesting payment. A sample message is provided in the instructions. After adding the receptionist on Telegram and requesting payment, you are asked for your name, age, WhatsApp number, and bKash account number. Usually, within a few minutes, the money is transferred to your bKash account. This is how the initial trap is laid.
The Scam
After subscribing to just two YouTube channels and receiving 200-300 taka immediately in your bKash account, anyone would be tempted to do more work. Those who express interest in more tasks are added to a Telegram group. This group already contains other members of the scam ring. There, they post ads for “missions” and “advanced benefit orders.” The missions generally involve subscribing to YouTube channels or following Instagram accounts. However, the new tasks come with conditions. The condition is that if you do not complete the “advanced benefit orders,” your mission earnings will be cut in half, down to 50 taka, and if you miss two advanced benefit orders in a row, you will only receive 15 taka per task. In other words, to earn the 2000-3000 taka per day that you were promised for subscribing or following 15-20 accounts, you will need to accept the advanced benefit order tasks. These tasks require you to invest a certain amount of money, and they promise profits proportional to your investment. For example, for a minimum investment of 1600 taka, you can earn 2400 taka, and by investing in higher tiers, you can earn up to 8.5 lakh taka (850,000) with a maximum investment of around 6.5 lakh taka (650,000).
The leaders of the group, who go by names like “Leader” and “Receptionist,” claim that the company invests in IPs and coins based on market demand. They gather money from everyone, invest it, and share the profits accordingly. If you agree to the advanced task, they provide an MFS agent account number where you need to send the money and then submit a screenshot.
According to the media and law enforcement, when someone sends money for the first time, the scam ring typically returns the amount with profit within 15-20 minutes, establishing trust. In this way, through small but repeated transactions, the scammers build up trust. Moreover, the other members of the group, who are also scammers, constantly post screenshots of completed tasks, money transfers, and messages about receiving their earnings, further convincing people to trust the group. Law enforcement believes that by gaining trust in this way, the group lures people into making larger investments. After receiving multiple small amounts of profit, victims become more confident and invest larger sums, at which point the scammers cut off all communication. Some scam groups have even broader schemes in place. After receiving a payment, they provide a code that allows the victim to join another Telegram channel. In that channel, they are given a link to what appears to be a crypto trading platform, which is actually a dummy site created by the scammers. After signing up, the victim’s balance shows the amount they invested. As missions are assigned, the victim sends money to a bKash number provided by the Telegram channel, and the platform shows that the amount has been deposited. However, the scammers deduct the money and show the victim’s balance as increasing with profits, encouraging them to invest more and more, much like the MTFE scam. In this way, after building trust through a few rounds of small profits, the scammers disappear with the victim’s money, blocking all communication on Telegram and WhatsApp.
But why do people in Bangladesh keep falling for such scams?
Most people in Bangladesh naturally desire to earn large amounts of money with little to no effort. The constant promotion of success stories from freelancers and the flashy ads of social media course sellers boasting about making millions have planted the seed of a desire for freelancing or online income in the minds of many, young and old alike. As a result, when scammers offer such small, easy tasks for big payouts, many believe that this must be the reality of online work or freelancing. The scam rings exploit this ignorance and the hidden desire for incredible earnings without effort, trapping ordinary people who willingly hand over their money, only to lose everything in the end.
Who’s Behind?
While phone scams are not new in Bangladesh, previous scams were typically operated by local groups. However, recent online job scams involve not only local criminals but also Indian scam call centers. Though new to Bangladesh, these scams initially targeted senior citizens in countries like the U.S., Canada, the U.K., and Australia. In the late 1990s, India became a major outsourcing hub for global corporations’ call centers. Companies like American Express, Dell, IBM, and General Electric expanded their call center operations in India. From these centers, tech support and customer care services were provided to citizens of English-speaking countries such as the U.S., Canada, the U.K., and Australia. In fact, India became well-known for call center outsourcing. Unfortunately, some unscrupulous groups took advantage of this, scamming unsuspecting senior citizens by pretending to provide tech support, social security, or tax assistance, and stealing their pension money or placing fake orders using their bank details.
According to FBI reports, in 2023 alone, tech support scams and impostors posing as government officials scammed U.S. citizens out of $1.3 billion. Furthermore, job-related investment scams in 2023 caused U.S. citizens to lose more than $4.57 billion. YouTubers like Jim Robinson, Mark Rober, ScamBaiter, and Trilogy Media began exposing these scam call centers, bringing global attention to India as the epicenter of such scams. Although these Indian call centers are not a major threat to the country’s own citizens and mainly target U.S., U.K., and Canadian citizens, the global damage to India’s reputation led the country’s police to collaborate with the FBI in shutting down these call centers starting in 2022. In October 2023, India’s Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) conducted raids on 76 locations across several states, including Delhi, Bihar, West Bengal, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Karnataka, in an effort to eliminate these call centers. Companies like Microsoft and Amazon are also helping Indian police in these raids. With the growing number of raids supported by tech giants and international law enforcement agencies like the FBI, Indian call centers are now starting to target the general public in countries like Bangladesh. Local groups are assisting these foreign scammers. In particular, by using MFS agent numbers to receive money from people and then sending it abroad through hundi (illegal money transfer), local rings are facilitating the operations of these India-based call centers.
In response to complaints, Bangladesh police have arrested several individuals, including both Bangladeshi and Chinese nationals. Despite numerous investment-related scams happening repeatedly in the country, many people in Bangladesh continue to fall prey to these scams due to greed, losing billions of taka to various fraudulent groups every year. With the help of law enforcement agencies monitoring and mobile network operators, it is possible to curb these scam calls to a great extent. However, raising awareness, avoiding the temptation of unbelievable profit offers, and staying cautious are key ways to protect oneself from such scams.
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