Robi SIMs used to filch money from bKash accounts
120 biometrically registered Robi SIMs seized so far
STAFF REPORTER, Ctg
Chittagong district police have detected a new mode of crime that is being committed to steal money from bKash accounts by using Robi SIMs registered with biometric details. The masterminds behind this illicit scheme fraudulently collect Robi SIMs registered with biometric information. They have so far collected a total of 120 biometrically registered SIMs and stolen a huge amount of money from bKash accounts.
AKM Hafiz Akhter, superintendent of police (SP) in Chittagong, disclosed this at a press briefing on Sunday. Weve caught two members of a criminal syndicate that collects biometrically registered Robi SIMs with fraudulent methods. They collect these SIM cards to steal money from bKash accounts, he said. Although these SIMs were registered biometrically, the frauds have been able to collect them without any trouble.
When asked, AKM Hafiz Akhter termed it a weakness on the part of the mobile operator. This is a weakness. Perhaps Robis security system has not been strengthened, he said.
On April 21, Nurnahar Begum of Rongipara under Satkania police station lodged a complaint that her Robi SIM, which was also used for bKash transactions, had suddenly been deactivated. When she went to Robis Satkania service centre to enquire about the deactivation, she was informed that someone named Kutub Uddin had collected the SIM after biometrically registering it.
She reactivated the SIM by giving the necessary proof and immediately found that a total of Tk. 20,400 had been withdrawn from her bKash account. She, then, lodged a complaint with Satkania police station in this regard.
On receiving the complaint, police arrested Kutub Uddin (32) and Md Farhad (30)both of whom had submitted their national identity cards to collect the SIM. They were bKash agents who used to work in a SIM distribution agency, said police sources.
AKM Emran Bhuiyan, assistant superintendent of police (Satkania circle), said that during primary interrogation, the arrested duo told them that they had collected at least 120 SIMs aligned with bKash accounts from March 24 to May 12. They had also confessed to having stolen huge amounts of money from these accounts, he added. These SIMs were owned by different people. When contacted, they informed us that their SIMs were suddenly deactivated and that they were forced to collect the SIMs again, he said. In a statement issued by Robi, Ekram Kabir, vice-president of Robi Axixta Limited (communications and corporate responsibility), said, Our attention has been drawn to a news report regarding a mobile SIM being used to access a mobile money account by a third party. We would like to clarify that if a subscriber has a mobile money wallet, and if that SIM is replaced, then the mobile banking account/wallet is automatically made inactive/frozen. In that case, the subscriber needs to reactivate his/her account by contacting the mobile money provider concerned. In addition, the use of mobile money service requires a secret password or PIN. In the reported incidentunless all above controls have failed and the pin has been compromisedit is not possible to access the mobile money account of a subscriber by a third party. The biometric verification of SIMs of all subscribers is in progress, and biometric reverification is mandatory when it comes to SIM replacement as well. It is worthwhile to mention the police have arrested the two suspects with help from our agents, he added.
