Detective Branch (DB) members have arrested eight members of a Telegram-based fraud syndicate including five Chinese nationals in separate raids in the capital’s Bashundhara and Uttara West areas.
The arrestees are Chen Ling Feng, Zeng Kong, Zeng Changqiang, Wen Jian Qiu, Huang Zheng Jiang, Mohammad Zakaria (26), Niaz Masum (20) and Kamrul Hasan alias Hasan Joy (38).
During the drives, DB police recovered 51,251 SIM cards of different mobile operators, 51 mobile phones and equipment of 21 VoIP gateways.
Deputy Commissioner Hasan Mohammad Naser Rikabdar of the DB’s Cyber and Special Crime (North) Division disclosed the information at a press briefing held at the DMP Media Centre on Tuesday morning by.
He said the Web-Based Crime Investigation Team of the DB Cyber and Special Crime (North) Division traced the syndicate while probing allegations of online job scams, financial fraud through Telegram groups and other cybercrimes.
Following the investigation, the DB members conducted a drive in Bashundhara Residential Area on Thursday and arrested Niaz Masum and Kamrul Hasan Joy.
From their possession, police recovered 14 VoIP gateway devices used for online fraud, 51,067 SIM cards of various operators, four mobile phones, two CPUs and a laptop.
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Police later received information about similar fraud networks operating in other parts of the capital.
Acting on the intelligence, the DB carried out another drive on Monday in Sector 9 of Uttara West Police Station area and arrested six people including five foreign nationals.
During that operation, seven illegal VoIP gateway devices, 47 mobile phones, 184 SIM cards and five laptops were seized.
According to DB cyber officials, the arrestees used various tactics to defraud people including offering fake jobs, promising high returns on investments and advertising essential commodities at unusually low prices.
Among the arrestees, Niaz Masum and Kamrul Hasan Joy have already been sent to court, while legal proceedings against the others are underway, police said.