Home ›› 03 Oct 2021 ›› Front
Some online-based groups are laundering a large amount of money from Bangladesh through their ‘e-gift card’ businesses by attracting unsuspecting people, mostly the young and adolescents.
These groups are illegally creating e-money under the pretext of virtual gift cards to pay subscription fees for services such as watching movies or boosting content on YouTube and Facebook.
They also help customers transfer money to services like PayPal, debit Visa or MasterCard. During this process, the operators receive payments in local currency and convert them to US dollars.
These service providers include Daraz.com, bd.techtreek.com, Ecard.com.bd, Gift card bd, ecard.com.bd, giftcardszonebd.com, and gift card house.
They receive money from local customers through mobile financial services (MFS) such as bKash, Nagad and Rocket against virtual cards or products and pay the international service providers or companies through illegal channels.
Many people in Bangladesh purchase products from online shopping sites like Amazon, Alibaba through virtual PayPal, debit Visa or MasterCard. Google Play, Apple iTunes, Xbox & PlayStation, Nintendo, Steam and many more gift cards are available in the country.
Several virtual card providers told The Business Post that anyone from Bangladesh could send any amount to a PayPal account and buy anything from an international e-commerce company.
When this reporter posed as a customer and contacted e-gift card store ‘bd.techtreek.com’ owner Zahid Hasan Biswas, he told that it is possible to transfer any amount to a PayPal account in the USA from Bangladesh without any extra charge.
“If a customer wants to send money to any country other than the US, she/he will have to pay an extra fee. They will have to pay through MFS,” Biswas said.
“It’s more like a hundi system.”
Hundi is an illegal money transfer system that deprives the government of tax.
bd.techtreek.com offers gift cards worth $50-100. Zahid said they were not laundering money.
He told The Business Post that they use Payoneer for exchanging any amount above $200, claiming that the service is approved by Bangladesh Bank. “We use gift cards for payments below $50,” he said.
Joy Mahmud, owner of ‘Gift card bd’ also said that some Bangladeshis living abroad, especially in the USA, are involved with this transaction system.
Bangladesh Bank’s Executive Director and spokesperson Md Serajul Islam told The Business Post that only banks or financial institutions approved by the central bank can send money aboard and issue MasterCard or Visa Card.
“People should be careful about those who are offering international financial services such as PayPal, debit Visa and MasterCard in Bangladesh without BB’s approval,” Islam said.
DarazMall, a flagship store of Daraz online shopping, sells virtual Google play store gift cards. It is trying to woo Bangladeshi customers with a paid campaign on Facebook.
Daraz’s terms and conditions say customers must be over 13 years of age and US residents to avail their services. But anyone from Bangladesh can buy their virtual gift cards by paying through MFS in local currencies.
One of the customers, Md Farhad Molla told The Business Post that he bought several gift cards from DarazMall this month. “Anyone can buy virtual gift cards from this platform without hassle,” he said.
Daraz declined to comment on the issue.
In Bangladesh, financial crime investigators say that young adolescents who play online games on smartphones or electronic devices buy these virtual gift cards.
Bangladeshi merchants who sell goods on e-commerce sites or Facebook and promote video clips on YouTube are using virtual cards to avoid banking system hassle and evade the government’s 15 per cent VAT.
For gift cards, Card House is charging Tk 58 against $1 while the current exchange rate is around Tk 85.
Its owner Mohammad Saif said it is part of their strategy to boost business.
‘‘PayPal, bitcoin transactions are done in various clandestine ways in Bangladesh. We are getting these facilities,” Saif said without elaborating.
Gift Card House, located on Khulna’s Belayet Hossain Road, sells virtual gift cards with a trade license from the city corporation. They are charging Tk 65 against $1. Its owner Ibrahim Khalil said he had a good stock of gift cards.
“Just buy the gift cards if you need them. Don’t bother about the payment system,” he said.
Ecard.com.bd sells ‘Vanilla VISA Gift Card and Vanilla Master Card’ for Facebook or YouTube boosting. The company’s website says it is an easy payment method with ‘instant email delivery’. They have multiple payment options like bKash, Rocket, Nagad and Bank Transfer and there is no service charge or extra fee on payment.
One of the owners of Ecard told The Business Post that they did not bother to have Bangladesh Bank’s permission to provide financial card services.
Md Mesbaul Haque, General Manager of the Payment Systems Department of Bangladesh Bank, said all foreign gift card wallet services include Payoneer and lottery are illegal in Bangladesh. The central bank published two public notices between 2019 and 2021 in this regard.
He said BB had sought opinion from the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission. They, too, said the payment services were illegal in Bangladesh.
Criminal Investigation Department’s Special Police Superintendent for Financial Crime Humayun Kabir said laundering money through virtual transactions is easy. “It’s a kind of hundi,” he said.
“We are aware of the online virtual card businesses that are laundering money. Our team is working on the issue,” Kabir said.
