Many online fraudulent groups become active across the country amid the coronavirus situation, taking advantage of the ‘stay at home’ practice that shifted the attention to online platforms more than ever before.
Taking this opportunity, online forgeries have become widespread in everything from online shopping to job search and hiring of employees.

Online frauds, especially in the name of selling hygiene products and personal protective equipment are at its peak. Online frauds are taking away crores of taka from general people to big businessmen by placing lucrative online advertisements.

Online marketing specialists and cybersecurity experts have advised people to check thoroughly before buying any products online and making payments.

Since the beginning of the corona situation, numerous Facebook pages, groups and online shopping sites have been opened to sell products and offer services.

The scammers are attracting people with various lucrative advertisements. People are being deceived while shopping for daily necessities, hygiene products and personal protective materials and even by replying to online job scams.

Sources at the Cyber Police Center of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) said in the current scenario, online forgery is prevalent in the name of selling medical equipment such as masks, protective cloth, gloves, portable oxygen cylinders, portable ventilators, pulse oximeters and various antibacterial devices.
According to sources, products are not delivered after making payments. Some scammers do not ship the same products shown in the advertisements.

Scammers usually allure buyers by offering unbelievably lower prices. Fraudsters are also making their pages look legitimate by showing fake customer reviews.

Rafiqul Rana, a student, said he ordered some imported masks from a Facebook page as their price was much lower compared to others. But the products he received were not the ones he paid for.

On May 7, Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) arrested 13 members of fraud gangs, who used to target mobile banking users and misappropriated money from them by collecting PINs through various tricks.

Lt Col Sarwar Bin Kashem, legal and media wing director of RAB, said due to the ongoing coronavirus situation in the country, fraudsters have swindled crores of taka by taking advantage of online transactions.

He said in the current situation most of the companies and garment factories are paying the workers through online banking. The fraudsters are targeting the readymade garment workers, small entrepreneurs, and low income and less educated people, for the forgery.

The e-Commerce Association of Bangladesh (e-CAB) has urged consumers to be more careful when shopping online. Directorate of National Consumers’ Right Protection (DNCRP) has advised aggrieved consumers to file a complaint online to seek compensation.

Muhammad Abdul Wahed Tomal, General Secretary of e-Commerce Association of Bangladesh (e-CAB), told the Daily Sun “In the current situation, many will want to take advantage of online trading. I would advise everyone to buy products from authenticated sites.”

He also said: “We have recently started an online complain system in out e-CAB websites. If you are deceived through our members please send us the complaint. We will take action.”

If someone is cheated online, the victims can file a complaint to the Directorate of National Consumers’ Right Protection (DNCRP). Action has already been taken against two or three such online companies.