Millions of mobile hand sets are entering the country through illegal channels which are largely used for cybercrimes as they are not registered with the regulatory authority.
Experts call on the government to immediately prevent such illegal business otherwise they fear that it would continue to give rise to such crimes based on the use of internet.
Because of availability of unregistered smart mobile handsets, cybercriminals have found new strategies using mobile devices and social networks to maintain their illegal activities.
Khondaker Farjana Rahman, chairman of the criminology department of Dhaka University recently told media, “Using illegal mobile handsets we see crimes have risen to an unexpected level. So, I think the measure that BTRC has taken to curb the situation is praise worthy.”
Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) and crime experts believe that most often people face hijacking in which victims lose their handsets along with other valuables. But most people do not complain to the law enforcement agencies as the mobile sets may not be originally registered.
According to the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP), in the 50 police stations in Dhaka, more than 9000 complaints have been received regarding loss of handsets being snatched. Of the total, only 1200 cases have been filed.
Cyber Police Center sources said, youths are the most likely to lodge complaints and most of the complaints are concerning sexual harassment, including spreading hatred, distorting pictures and posting obscene images with photoshop, threatening to sexually harass young women, hacking Facebook identities, anti-social offers, etc. Besides, mobile banking fraud, rumors, and online product fraud are also being reported.
Although there are no official statistics, according to businessmen, currently around 30 million illegal handsets are being used in the country. The BTRC has been taking steps to prevent the loss of revenue by ensuring the availability and security of counterfeit mobile sets, illegal imports, theft, health risks, and counterfeit handsets.
The amount of crime is also increasing in the cyber world. There are about one and a half thousand complaints including spreading rumors through social media, Facebook hacking, pornography, SIM cloning in the cybercrime unit of the police. BTRC and crime experts believe that these crimes will be reduced if NEIR is introduced.
It was learned that different organized gangs continued blackmailing people especially women through theft and damaged smartphones making them victims in many ways.
Talking to The Bangladesh Post cyber security expert Tanvir Ahmed suggested that while repairing a smart phone one must preserve all sensitive data on Google Drive and clear cache so that with the software it cannot be retrieved by criminals.
