CID arrests 3 foreigners in Dhaka over Facebook scam
Based on complaints from a victim, a CID team conducted a drive and arrested them from Vatara area in the capital
The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has arrested a citizen of Kenya and two citizens of Cameroon for their alleged involvement with embezzling large sums of money by scamming people through Facebook.
The arrestees are – Nguegang Tegomo Bertin alias Solayman, 47, Nguenang Towoserge Christian, 38, and Ekongo Ernast Ibramhim, 42.
They had been cheating some Facebook users for a long time by befriending them with the promise of gifts from abroad, said Mohammad Rezaul Haider, additional deputy inspector general of CID at a press conference at the CID office on Thursday afternoon.
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Based on complaints from a victim, a CID team conducted a drive and arrested them from Vatara area in the capital on Wednesday night, he said.
The arrestees became aggressive during the operation, and tried to attack as well, he added.
Rezaul also said the arrested three have been living in Bangladesh but failed to show any valid documents for their stay. And it was suspected that they have been living in Bangladesh illegally as their visas expired.
The arrested foreigners befriended Mohammad Ariful Islam, alias Faisal. They used a fake Facebook account with a female identity named Janetery – who identified herself as a US citizen.
She told Ariful that she will send him a precious gift form the USA through a courier agent. And Ariful needed to release the gift from the customs authority.
One of the gang members, impersonating the customs agent, made phone calls to Ariful to release the "item."
By this way, the gang collected Tk8.7 lakh in cash and Tk13.98 lakh through bank transactions at different times from Ariful, said the CID official.
In total, three members of this fraudster gang attained Tk22.68 lakh through their fraudulence activities, said the CID officer, adding, "Usually, there are two to five members in such fraudulent groups. So it is not possible to say exactly how many groups are there."
Rezaul further said some Bangladeshi nationals are also involved with this gang, and they are trying to track them down.
"However, the details will be shared after interrogating the arrested," he said.
