The Detective Branch (DB) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police arrested four individuals for their alleged involvement in hacking into imo accounts and swindling expatriate Bangladeshis out of money through mobile financial service platforms.
Members of DB’s Cyber and Special Crime Division arrested the racket’s ring leader Shohag Ahmed, 20; Ripon Islam, 33; Sohel Rana, 31; and Liton Ali, 30, from different areas of Natore on Monday night, said DB’s Additional Deputy Commissioner Saifur Rahman Azad.
Providing further details, he said, “We nabbed the gang while investigating a case of Hazaribagh Police Station. The racket of hackers used to target expatriate Bangladeshis living in Middle Eastern countries, and send them friend requests on Facebook, usually posing as women.
“After this, the hackers would ask for the intended victim’s imo number with promises to speak with them. The gang would eventually trick their victims into sharing their OTP code to steal imo log-in credentials, effectively shutting out the victim from their own account.”
He added that the gang then used those compromised imo accounts to swindle money from the victim’s family. “People should be careful when using the imo app and interacting with anyone on social media.”
Saifur also warned people to not send money through MFS or any other digital platform without verifying their identity first.
