Mobile banking scam, laundering network busted in Faridpur, 5 held

Army and police, in a joint operation, arrested five members of a mobile banking fraud and international money laundering ring in Faridpur, including the group's alleged mastermind.

The operation, carried out in the early hours of today (14 July) in Madhukhali upazila's Dumain Bazar area, was based on specific complaints and intelligence reports. It continued for nearly seven hours and concluded at 8:30am the following morning.

According to the Faridpur Army Camp, several individuals had recently lodged complaints claiming they were defrauded by people posing as customer care representatives of bKash, Nagad, and other mobile financial services.

Investigators found that the fraud ring had been illegally siphoning money from users' accounts by collecting sensitive information such as PINs and one-time passwords (OTPs).

By analysing call records and tracing common mobile numbers, authorities discovered that the final destination of much of the stolen money was concentrated in Dumain union of the upazila, though victims were located across various districts.

The 15 Riverine Engineer Battalion led a three-day technical surveillance operation to track the gang's methods, locations, and financial transactions.

Data showed that a substantial amount of the defrauded money was spent on over a hundred online gambling and betting platforms operating in Bangladesh.

The ring reportedly used special software and scripts to guarantee '100% wins' and collect money, before laundering a portion of the proceeds into personal accounts held by Bangladeshi expatriates in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The remaining funds were distributed among local members of the ring.

During the raid, authorities arrested Md Kamrul Mia, 40, identified as the ringleader and a known drug dealer in the area. His four associates—Amaresh Biswas, 30; Sohan Malik, 24; Hafizur Rahman, 42; and Sheikh Shakil Ahmed, 26—were also detained.

From their possession, security forces recovered 106 Yaba tablets, 42 Grameenphone SIM cards, and 10 mobile phones.

During initial questioning, the suspects admitted to posing as mobile banking call centre representatives in order to obtain account information.

They said 100% of the stolen funds were spent on online gambling, of which half was laundered abroad and the rest split among the group.

The suspects also revealed they sourced pre-registered SIM cards from illegal suppliers operating through social media to maintain new mobile banking accounts.

Investigators believe the ring operated across almost every division in the country, including Rajshahi, Khulna, Chattogram, Barishal, and Mymensingh, making it one of the most extensive digital fraud networks based on mobile banking services.

The detainees have been handed over to Madhukhali Police Station. Police are in the process of filing multiple cases under the Money Laundering Prevention Act, Cyber Crime Suppression Act, and Narcotics Control Act.

Army sources stated that the operation dealt a major blow to a well-organised fraud and laundering network.

They reiterated the army's zero-tolerance policy towards money laundering, cyber fraud, narcotics, and anti-terror activities, and urged the public to assist by providing information to law enforcement agencies.