Cybercrime is rapidly escalating, with complaints and victim numbers climbing as increasingly sophisticated criminal tactics continue to deceive the public.
Data from the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and the Detective Branch (DB) of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) show that nearly 200,000 people have lodged complaints after falling victim to cybercrime over the past five years. This year alone, around 5,000 complaints have been submitted to the DB, with most crimes targeting money.
Dhaka Metropolitan Police Additional Commissioner (DB) Shafiqul Islam said police are working within their capacity to tackle the crimes and bring offenders to justice. He stressed that public awareness is essential to curb cybercrime.
According to CID data, 178,596 complaints have been filed since 2020. In the past six months, 3,766 victims have contacted the Cyber Police Centre.
CID spokesperson and Superintendent of Police Jasim Uddin said complaints of cybercrime are being received daily. Every allegation submitted online or through verified pages is being examined and investigated.
An analysis of complaints lodged with the DB suggests that cyber gangs are stealing money and sensitive information from smartphone users across the country, including the capital, using mobile phones. Posing as senior police or government officials, criminals extort hundreds of thousands of taka by threatening victims with false cases or promising to have cases withdrawn. They even use images of people in police uniform. The detective police have received nearly 5,000 cybercrime complaints in the first 11 months of this year.
Police cyber experts say cyber gangs are now far more organised and reckless than before. Criminals first change call-forwarding settings on a target’s smartphone, then alter mobile banking account details and divert usable passwords to their own numbers before withdrawing money.
Recently, a member of a cyber gang named Durjoy told DB interrogators that he would call unfamiliar people from different numbers, gather information through conversation and then carry out financial fraud.
CID sources say that over the past six months, 3,766 cybercrime victims contacted the Cyber Police Centre. Of them, 1,813 were victims of online financial fraud, 743 were deceived through e-commerce platforms, 544 fell into investment traps, 64 into loan scams and 115 were trapped while seeking services. Thirteen victims suffered losses related to freelancing work and 17 over national ID issues. Meanwhile, 802 people were targeted through posts, messages, photos and videos; 61 through false personal information; 12 through the dissemination of private information; 282 through Facebook account hacking; 187 through blackmail; 165 through SIM cloning; and 261 through other forms of cybercrime.
CID officials said investigations are underway for every complaint, while advice and assistance have been provided to 2,552 complainants. Crime analysts say controlling cybercrime has become a major challenge, as offences are committed both domestically and from abroad, requiring coordinated efforts to rein in criminals and support victims.
A study by US-based cybersecurity firm Mandiant found that 55 per cent of cyberattacks in 2024 were aimed at financial gain. Taposi Rabeya, deputy director of the private organisation BLAST, said many highly educated city residents are falling victim to online sexual harassment, but 15 to 25 per cent of victims are unwilling to seek legal recourse.
At a recent event at the Dhaka Reporters Unity, the Cyber Crime Awareness Foundation said nearly 200,000 people had filed cybercrime complaints over the past five years, representing only about 12 per cent of total victims.
Surveys show that 80 per cent of victims are aged between 18 and 30, with women accounting for 60 per cent. Artificial intelligence and deepfake technology are also fuelling the rise in cybercrime. Police headquarters data indicate that 55 to 65 per cent of cybercrime in the country involves financial fraud, with both the volume and types of offences increasing every year.
Bd-pratidin English/ ANI
