Telegram Trap: CID Arrests Another Member of Online Investment Scam
The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has arrested another member of a fraud ring that allegedly swindled more than Tk 10 million by luring victims with fake investment offers on the online platform Telegram.
In a press release issued on 11 January (Saturday), the CID said the arrested individual is Sohel Mia (41), a member of the online fraud syndicate. Sohel Mia is the son of late Abdur Razzak of Baidyanathpur area under Bhawrkhola Union of Meghna Police Station in Cumilla.
He was arrested on Friday, 10 January, from the Dhalpur area under Jatrabari Police Station in the capital by an operation team of the Cyber Personnel Management and Development Unit of the CID’s Cyber Police Centre (CPC).
According to the CID, in December 2024, a member of the fraud ring contacted the complainant from an unknown WhatsApp number and offered an online part-time job. Believing that the work could be done from home during leisure time, the complainant agreed. Following the syndicate’s instructions, the victim opened a wallet on an online site and initially earned Tk 150 after completing assigned tasks.
Gradually, after completing 28 tasks, the syndicate offered Tk 38,000. The complainant also earned Tk 2,100 by completing 14 tasks using the methods shown by the fraudsters. Later, the syndicate tempted the victim with an offer that an investment of Tk 2,000 would yield Tk 2,800 and assigned another task. Although the wallet showed the amount as credited after task completion, the complainant failed to withdraw the money.
When informed, the fraudsters provided a bKash account and instructed the victim to send money there, warning that otherwise the deposited funds could not be withdrawn. In this manner, the syndicate gradually defrauded the complainant of Tk 11,058,305 by collecting money through four separate bKash accounts and nine bank accounts.
When the victim demanded the return of the money, the syndicate allegedly issued death threats and intimidated the complainant in various ways. Realizing the fraud, the victim filed a case with Lalbagh Police Station under Dhaka Metropolitan Police on 21 May 2025.
Following the filing of the case, the CID launched an investigation. On 5 December, the prime suspect Nadim was arrested and produced before the court, where he gave a confessional statement admitting his involvement and disclosed the names of other members of the syndicate. Based on the information obtained and analysis using modern technology, Sohel Mia, one of the key members of the fraud ring, was arrested last Friday.
The CID said Sohel Mia has been produced before the court with a prayer for remand, while legal proceedings are underway to arrest other members of the syndicate.
DBTech/CTO/EK/OR
