An offer he couldn’t refuse
It really was an offer that Ariful Islam Foysal could not refuse!
A few months ago, he met a woman named "Genitari" on social media. She said she was from America. They hit it off right away and became good friends.
One day, she offered to send him some gifts. Those were very "expensive" and a token of their friendship, she said. Genitari also informed that she will send those through a diplomatic courier agent.
Soon, an "agent" contacted Foisal and said he needed to pay money to release it.
At first, Foisal was skeptical. But Genitari informed him that the gift was just the beginning. Soon he will have a chance to visit her in the US and eventually she can facilitate his citizenship process.
Needless to say, Foisal was over the moon. He did not hesitate afterwards. Whenever the courier service person called for money to release the goods, he complied.
By the time Ariful figured out that he was being duped, the miscreants had embezzled Tk 22.68 lakh from him in phases.
The above came to light after the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) yesterday claimed to have arrested three foreign nationals from the capital's Bashundhara area, who allegedly worked for the fraudulent gang.
Identifying themselves as nationals of countries like the United States or United Kingdom, they first develop relationships with people on social media, said Sheikh Mohammad Rezaul Haider, additional deputy inspector general of CID.
At one stage, they offer "expensive" gifts as a token of their friendship, then a chance to visit the countries and eventually become a citizens. Through the process, they swindle large sums of money from people through various tricks.
CID conducted the drive after Foysal filed a complaint in this regard.
The arrestees are Nguegang Tegomo Bertin (47), Nguenang Towoserge Christian (38), and Ekongo Ernast Ibramhim (42).
The arrestees did not acknowledge their nationality yet, but they are believed to be citizens of some African nations, said the CID official.
While addressing a briefing at CID headquarters, Haider said none of the arrestees had passports on them. "They have been staying in Bangladesh for a long time," he said."We have found that some locals are also linked with the racket. We're conducting drives to arrest other members," the CID officials added.
Comments