The Detective Branch of Police has arrested 15 people including a Chinese national for operating loan scams through social media.

The mastermind behind this operation is identified as Zhang Ji Zhang, a 60-year-old Chinese national.

The Detective Branch (DB) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) showed them arrested in cases filed at Hatirjheel and Kafrul police stations in the capital.

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The gang was involved in fraudulent schemes using social media for easy loan opportunities and job applications without any association with legitimate institutions.

During the operation, police seized evidence from the suspects, uncovering information from 29 mobile banking accounts.

Additional Commissioner and Chief of Detective Branch (DB) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police Mohammad Harun or Rashid on Saturday said the group had siphoned off  over Tk 200 crore in the past two years.

However, none of this money is in Bangladesh; it has all been transferred to China, he said.

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During the last six months alone, more than Tk 50 crore had been transacted using the mobile banking accounts. The gang has victimized at least 1,500 people in the country. An app, developed by Chinese nationals, has its server in Singapore, and the call centres are located in Bangladesh and in Pakistan, the DB chief told journalists at his office.

The gang used to extort lakhs of taka after providing small amounts of money to the victims

They also enticed victims by advertisements on social media to download the app that, once installed, allowed the fraudsters access to crucial information such as photos, videos, and contact lists on the victims' mobile phones. Subsequently, the scammers used the information to blackmail individuals and extort money, sometimes resorting to creating false images and videos, said the police official.

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Harun also said more than 60 people have committed suicide due to harassment in various ways by taking loans from these apps in the neighbouring country. It is not known whether anyone has committed suicide in Bangladesh. The DB chief suggested that if anyone is duped by this gang, the victim should file a case.

He added that there are many others involved in this racket. They went into hiding. DB’s drive to bring them under the law is underway.