A woman from Panchlash area of the city had made a similar complaint on December 27.
Sub-Inspector Saidur Rehman of the Metropolitan Police’s Cyber Crime Unit said that as soon as the app is downloaded, contact list, photo, email and Facebook ID information is transferred to all the scammers.
“Fraudsters take private pictures of victims before sending them to relatives to edit and humiliate them.”
Investigators said that the first click on the app sends users to an application form that asks for certain information. Once it is full, users are sent some money to entice them. That money has to be returned with interest. Once that money is repaid, the user can borrow more money. Taking more money causes trouble to the victim.
Rasib Khan, a sub-inspector with the counter-terrorism unit, said: “Investigation has revealed that the scammers call the victims using call spoofing techniques. They [scammers] Do not provide any mobile banking agent number for payment. They give a link for the submission. This has made it difficult to identify them.”
Additional Deputy Commissioner Asif said the fraudsters claim to offer loans of Tk 20,000-50,000 on easy terms. “Investigations into online fraud over time have shown us that groups operate such applications from outside the country.”
“They have some agents in the country who approach the victims and offer lucrative deals. We have started an investigation into the matter and are on the lookout for those running the app.”
Asif also feels that people are being cheated due to lack of awareness. “They click on the link because of the temptation. In this process his Facebook, email and other IDs are being hacked.
He advised people to ignore links and emails from unknown people.
And anyone who comes across such hoaxes should report it to the nearest police station and contact the cyber crime unit without any hesitation.