A woman has recently lost her mobile phone at Ramna Park in the capital. The phone set contained some personal photos and videos. But the miscreants who stole the phone demanded money to return it. The woman paid around Tk 1 lakh.
However, the criminals didn’t return the phone rather they circulated her personal photos and videos on various social media. Later, she lodged a general diary (GD) with the Ramna police station.
Mobile phones that are lost or stolen pose a significant risk to digital security and identity as they often contain personal and sensitive information such as photos, videos, banking app logs, passwords, and confidential documents.
Snatchers and thieves can easily access sensitive information such as passwords, bank account information, personal contacts, banking app loggings, photos, and confidential documents.
When a mobile phone is snatched, stolen or lost, everything on that mobile phone goes into the hands of the criminals, which they use to blackmail the victims.
Although mobile phone snatching or theft happens every day across the country, such crime has increased in the capital in recent times.
DB Chief Additional Commissioner Harun-Or-Rashid said that stolen or snatched mobiles are often used in carrying out crimes by changing International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI). Sometimes it is smuggled out of the country.
According to the police and various sources, more than 11,000 mobile phones are stolen, snatched, or lost in the capital every month.
More than half of the victims do not lodge complaints with the police stations, and the number of mobile phone recovery is also nominal.
According to the police, more than half of the expensive mobiles lost are going abroad, so they cannot be traced. Cheaper mobile IMEI replacements are sold at various locations in the country.
Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) and its Detective Branch (DB) have arrested many people, including those who had stolen, or
snatched mobile phones. Law enforcers said information technology is currently used to arrest criminals. However, changing the IMEIs makes it impossible to know the identity immediately if the criminals commit any crime using these mobiles.
According to DB Police, a gang of thieves sells mobile phones in the market by changing the IMEI number. The cycle is very efficient for changing IMEI numbers. They change the IMEI number in just 3 to 5 seconds by connecting it to the laptop through special software. Recently, some members of such a gang were arrested in the capital.
A student of Dhaka University was a victim of the same incident when he lost his mobile phone on the campus on February 21. The student lodged a GD at Shahbagh police station.
However, a miscreant asked for money by threatening him with personal photos on his mobile phone. Later, he filed a case with Shahbagh police station.
Many people are at risk due to the loss of their mobile phones, which contain important documents.
Police and technology experts said it is better not to keep sensitive, personal, and essential documents on mobile devices.
Technology expert Tanvir Hassan Zoha said, “If you store any information on a mobile phone, it should be stored in a location linked to Google ID. Even if the device is lost, it can be recovered with the Google ID.”
CID chief Additional IGP Mohammad Ali said that more than half of the people who lose their mobile phones do not complain to the police station. Those who come to the police station claim their mobile phone is lost, even if it is snatched or stolen.
He said CID received about 1,500 complaints last year, of which 471 mobiles were recovered. He also warned people against buying old mobiles without verification.
DMP and CID officials said stolen mobile phone sets have changed hands several times nationwide, including in Dhaka. More than half of the lost expensive mobiles are sold to international traffickers. They are being smuggled to India, Malaysia and Thailand.
Although there are many GDs, only a handful of mobiles are returned. Police sources said the police are less interested in finding lost mobile phones due to busy work. Police officials said they are too busy with regular work to search for lost mobile phones.
On March 7, the Detective Branch of Dhaka Metropolitan Police arrested ten individuals, including nine Indian nationals, in connection with selling and trafficking stolen phones and various goods.
According to DB, the gang used to operate a two-way smuggling operation, trafficking stolen Bangladeshi phones to India and stolen Indian phones to Bangladesh.
At that time, DB chief Harun-Or-Rashid said, “For a long time, this gang has been stealing expensive smartphones of various brands, including iPhone and Samsung, and smuggling them to India. From there, they are smuggled to other countries. Due to this reason, if a mobile phone is lost or stolen in the country, it cannot be traced.”
