Despite continued drives against fake e-commerce sites, fraudster groups have become desperate again. Though their main targets are female customers, they are cheating all sections of people, even detectives and spouses of senior home ministry officials. They are earning huge amount of money in the name of online selling. They receive orders for one product but supply a low quality item .
Detective Branch of Dhaka Metropolitan Police on July 23 arrested thirteen members of such groups in connection with ecommerce fraudulence from different parts of the city. Talking to the Bangladesh Post, Assistant Commissioner of DB’s Serious Crime Unit (Shooting Incident Investigation Team) Md Ashrafullah confirmed it. He said, “We have also seized 91 mobile sets, 5 laptops and other equipment which were being used for e-commerce fraudulence.” According to the detectives, some unscrupulous persons, mainly students of some private universities, are involved in such cheating for a long time. Police have already detected more than one hundred Facebook pages of online shopping,that are cheating customers.
These Facebook pages include Mim Fashion , New Fashion BD, KZ Fashion, Rose Fashion BD, BIKRPY bazar BD, Indian 3 Piece Gallery, Shadmart BD, SM Fashion, Style Zone, MZ Fashion, Shingdha Fashion, Sanju Fashion, Sarees House, BISHWABazar, Brand Shop. Earlier, on May 29, Hosne Ara Khanom Rozi, wife of Mohammad HabiburRahman, Deputy Secretary of Home Ministry( Public Security Division) submitted a written complaint to Abdul Baten, Additional Commissioner of DMP( Detective Branch), after being cheated by an online fraudster. Bangladesh Post received a copy of the complaint. She wrote that on April 24, she had ordered two products—one piece of saree and one piece of gown after seeing online advertisement of Fashion Touch in social networking site Facebook.
As per condition, she paid Tk 200 in advance. Later,the Fashion Touch sent two packets through SA Paribahan, a parcel service company. On receipt of the two packets, she paid Tk 4,500 as payment of balanced amount is mandatory before receiving any parcelfrom SA Paribahan’s counter. But when she opened the packets, she found out that they had sent two low quality sarees against her order for one saree and one gown. Receiving the complaint, detectives started working on it.
At one stage, they managed to collect the phone numbers which were being used for cheating. But police found that the registration of the phone numbers were fake. In one stage of investigation, police identified the criminals and arrested them. During the primary investigation, they admitted that they have cheated more than two thousand people in one year. They delete the Facebook pages just after cheating one hundred customers.
Then they create another Facebook page and start all over again. If a customer orders for an iPhone, they send a button phone worth Tk 1,000. They send sarees which they usually buy from Zakat stores. Normally customers do not file complaint for possible further hassle. Md Nazmul Haque, Senior Assistant Commissioner of DB’s Serious Crime Unit said, “I have bought an equipment to use in the bathroom for getting hot water.
But it blasted as soon as I installed it. It exploded like a bomb with a terrible sound.” Mahmuda Afroz Lucky, Additional Deputy Commissioner of DB’s Serious Crime Investigation Unit told Bangladesh Post that she herself was victim of online cheating. However, when I gave them my identity, they replaced the low quality product, she said. But ordinary people do not have such opportunity, she opined. Mir Muddasser Hossain, Deputy Commissioner of Serious Crime Investigation Unit said, “Now a days, people like to buy products from online shops instead of going to the markets.
Taking the chance, the fraud groups become active and look for victims.” He vowed to continue drives against these criminals. On May this year, Rapid Action Battalion in a drive arrested seven people from Darussalam area of the capitalfortheir alleged involvement in fraudulence through online shopping platforms on social media. They also showed branded and good-quality products to sell through social media platforms.