Tale of vile discoveries
Gone are the days when extortionists and blackmailers would take advantage of people's religious beliefs and superstitions and extort money from them by pretending to be "Djinn er Badshah" -- the king of genies -- over the phones.
Extortions in cyberspace saw a radical change with the rise of various social media and online messenger sites.
"Criminals do not use the same techniques anymore after potential victims become aware of the trend," said SM Ashraful Alam, special superintendent (investigation and operation) of Cyber Police Centre of Criminal Investigation Department.
For example, there is a group of hackers who use different "voice changing software" to turn male voices into female ones. They use this to find their targets on the messenger app "imo".
The targets unknowingly fall into the trap that the hackers lay for them, disguised as an intimate relationship. They send different app download links and deceivingly collect the OTP (One Time Password) from their targets to hack the accounts.
Following the hack, they collect personal information from the hacked accounts, with which they later blackmail the targets and extort them.
These methods came to the fore following the arrest of nine such imo hackers on May 22.
The innovations don't end there. Turns out, when it comes to cybercrime, the actors are way ahead of their times with whatever resources they can avail.
In another venture, criminals were found using alert notifications from banks to extort people.
For example, a system notification is sent to the user's phone number after depositing a bank's CDM (Cash Deposit Machine).
However, the money is only taken into account for deposition after verification from a bank official.
This lag is what criminals take advantage of.
Disguised as police or army officials, they make online orders for products and ask traders for their bank account numbers with CDM facilities.
That is when the trick begins. Going to the CDM point, they input the demanded amount on the machine, but only insert an empty envelope.
Soon after, a text message is sent to the account holder's number confirming the transaction, after which, the syndicate collects the products from them.
The bank, as per procedure, notifies the trader of the empty envelope a day after. By then, the harm has already been done.
Criminals have also been found using telemedicine services for extortion, where they would take private photos from the patients during online sessions, promising them treatment for skin problems and sexual diseases, only to blackmail them with the photos after.
Four people were arrested in these connections on April 24.
Junaed Alam Sharker, DB additional deputy commissioner, said, "We are identifying evolving cybercrime techniques every time. All of us need to be aware before clicking on any new link or installing a new app."
Meanwhile, criminals have found a loophole in iOS -- iPhone's operating system -- to hack bKash accounts. Android phones don't allow logging into a bKash account with different numbers. However, the same can be done on iPhones.
Six arrests were made by DB in this connection in March.
On August 8 last year, CTTC unit arrested three for swindling a huge sum of money by hacking into several local and international websites, including a leading Bangladesh airline and super shop.
Three months later, on November 20, CTTC unit arrested another two from Sirjaganj for hacking into an international brokerage house and embezzling a huge sum of foreign currencies.
According to the database, around 4,245 cases were received by Dhaka's cyber tribunal, filed from 2013 to May 25 this year.
Nazrul Islam Shamim, public prosecutor of the tribunal, told this correspondent that the majority of the cases were filed for online defamation, providing fake info, spreading private photos and hacking social media accounts.
TERRORISM, CRYPTOCURRENCY
Recent research by CTTC found that 82 percent of terrorists and extremists are active on social media.
CTTC officials said militants use cyberspace for encrypted communication, motivating and recruiting new members, providing training, collecting funds and claiming terrorist attacks.On August 29 last year, CTTC claimed to have arrested Ansar Al Islam's media wing in-charge Zobaida Siddiqua Nabila (19), who was also radicalised by online content.
Najmul Islam, CTTC assistant commissioner of research and development, said militant activities have decreased and no terror attack has taken place in the country last year.
However, their presence in online is taking an alarming turn, he added.
"We have a specialised social media monitoring team to keep an eye on such activities 24/7."
In September 2019, CTTC arrested two members of Ansar Al Islam -- Awal Newaz alias Sohel Newaz and Fazle Rabbi Chowdhury -- who were using bitcoins to fund terrorist activities.
Criminals were also found using the dark web to place orders for narcotics, terror funding and buying firearms.
On November 23 last year, the department of narcotics control arrested two suspects -- Asif Ahmed Shuvo and his friend Arnab Kumar Sharma-- with DOB (dimethoxybromoamphetamine).
During the investigation, the arrestees informed that they placed the order through the dark web using cryptocurrency, said Md Fazlur Rahman, DNC additional director.
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