Customers of the country’s largest mobile financial services provider bKash are often becoming victims of fraud and harassment and are losing money to scammers, who are sending masked SMSs (Short Message Service). bKash Limited, a joint-venture between Bangladesh’s BRAC Bank Limited, and US-based Money in Motion LLC, which has 58 per cent market share of the country’s mobile financial services, attributed the problem to tech-savvy criminals who are cheating clients.
Mohammad Zahidul Islam, Senior Manager, PR, bKash, sent a statement over the matter to The Independent stating: “Fraudsters by impersonating the bKash short code may send masked SMS or make call to our customers, tricking them to conduct transactions.”   It seems bKash for now has no solution to tackle this kind of fraud. The bKash statement only said, “Masked call/SMS has been an issue around the telecommunications industry for long. The regulators are aware of it and are working on it to restrict it.”
By using masked SMS, fraudsters are able to send anonymous SMS to a mobile phone, but the recipient will see the name or number selected by the criminals instead of the original mobile number. But bKash Ltd, in which the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, has become an equity partner and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has invested, is shy to let its customers know about the risks involved in transacting through its system. There has been no noticeable effort on part of the company to find a solution to the problem.  The company statement only said, “We request our customers to remain aware of this kind of fraudulent activities. We ask them to check their account balance before and after making any transaction to avoid these kinds of fraudulent activities.” All cases of fake SMSs that The Independent checked carry bKash numbers.
The fraud involving the mobile financial service provider has prompted the Ministry of Home Affairs to generate an internal report, which says that the money transfer platform has become a safe haven for fraudsters. The Ministry of Home Affairs also asked the central bank to make some changes to stop the fraudulent activities that are being carried out using the bKash mobile financial service platform. According to a report of the Ministry of Home Affairs, many bKash customers have been duped by fraudsters, who are using fake SMSs to cheat people.
Following the home ministry reports, the central bank issued a circular on August 18, asking that all mobile financial service providers need to verify and register or re-register SIMs with Know Your Customer (KYC) information and submit a progress report to Bangladesh Bank by September 30. Also, a report on the activities of the previous month needs to be submitted by the 15th of the next month, said the circular.
Mahfuzur Rahman, Executive Director of Bangladesh Bank, said, “The central bank’s effort to keep mobile financial services safe is going on. We have given top priority to the concerns of the law enforcement agencies for providing safety.”
Mahbub Hossain, an employee of a private firm, received a phone call on August 4. “The caller told me that some money has been mistakenly credited to my bKash account. It would be nice if I could return the amount,” said Mahbub.
After the call, he received an SMS sent from bKash that said he had a balance of Tk 3160.12, indicating that Tk. 1,530 extra was added to his mobile wallet that previously had Tk 1635.26, said Mahbub.
“The money was sent from a Grameenphone number 01766681159 at 8:45 pm on August 4. I sent the extra money back at 8:54 pm. Then, I received an SMS from bKash confirming that the money had been transferred and a transaction fee of Tk 5 deducted from my account,” he said.
But, after transferring what he thought was the extra money that mistakenly got credited to his wallet, Mahbub discovered that Tk 1,530 had actually been deducted from his previous balance of Tk 1635.26, leaving him with just Tk 105.26.
Immediately, Mahbub called the bKash call-centre for help, but they refused to provide any help to recover the money. The law enforcements agencies confirmed that this kind fraud has been going on using the bKash short code, but the mobile financial service provider blamed it on masked SMSs. Another common financial fraud being committed using bKash is the lottery. Bipu Chakama of Shantipur village in Kabakhali upazila of Khagrachhari, was a victim of a lottery scam in June. “The SMS was sent from bKash. Why should I not trust it?” he said.
In Bangladesh, the total value of monthly transactions made through mobile phones was $1.42 billion, or Tk. 11,104 crore, in February this year, according to a study called Mobile Financial Services in Bangladesh. The number of registered clients increased more than five-fold from 5 million to over 25 million between January 2013 and February 2015, according to the survey. At present, twenty banks in the country are offering mobile financial services with bKash holding the lead at 58 per cent market share, followed by DBBL having 16.6 per cent of the market.