Cybercrimes go unabated

Incidents of cybercrime continue unabated across the country as the police struggle to support the victims due to a lack of adequate logistical support.

The crimes commonly reported in the country include hacking and cloning of social media accounts, online gambling, online harassment, online fraud, blackmail and threats, hacking of mobile financial service accounts, MFS-related fraud, pornography, and hacking and forgery involving bank accounts and debit and credit cards, according to data from the Cyber Police Centre of the Criminal Investigation Department.

Monthly CID data show that the number of cybercrime victims has been increasing gradually. In April, 886 victims sought assistance through the verified page and hotline numbers of the Cyber Police Centre, CID, Bangladesh Police. The number of victims was 650 in March and 476 in February.

The number of victims filing complaints with police, however, is much lower, as many do not seek legal remedies. In April, 61 victims filed complaints, but the number was 68 in March and 42 in February, according to CID monthly reports.

Daffodil International University associate professor of software engineering Tanvir Hasan Zoha said that Bangladesh should sign memorandums of understanding with Meta and Google to obtain information crime suspects more easily.

‘Now, police solely depend on assumptions or victims’ complaints. If information cannot be unearthed, investigations cannot be completed,’ he said.

Victims filed 491 hacking-related complaints with the CID between June 1, 2025 and April 30 this year. The complaints involved alleged hacking of 247 accounts, 103 email accounts, 79 WhatsApp numbers, 16 Imo accounts, 10 TikTok accounts, 10 gaming accounts, eight Telegram accounts, three Instagram accounts, three websites, one YouTube account and 11 accounts on other social media platforms.

CID investigators said that users who did not use two-factor authentication for their accounts were more vulnerable to hacking.

During the 11 months ending April 30, the CID also recorded 211 cloning-related complaints, 174 of which involved cloned accounts.

During the period, the CID recorded 3,465 online fraud complaints. Of them, 1,387 were related to e-commerce, 860 to online investments, 202 to fraudulent job offers, 178 to loans and 142 to parcel-related fraud.

The CID also recorded 83 complaints related to online gambling and 438 complaints involving blackmail or threats made through online platforms during the 11 months.

A woman who runs an online clothing business through a page filed a complaint with the CID alleging that she had been facing cyber harassment and that the harassers had been sending obscene AI-generated photos to her inbox.

She alleged that the harassment had been affecting both her personal and professional life.

The woman also faced intimidation and threats from the harasser through different unknown phone numbers. At one point, unidentified people appeared in front of her business premises and began making inquiries her.

Later, the businesswoman sought help and protection from law enforcers after filing a complaint.

CID chief and additional inspector general of police Mosleh Uddin Ahmed said that they were working to set up a call centre and develop an app so that victims could file complaints more easily.

Asked signing memorandums of understanding with Meta and Google to collect information on suspects, he said that the CID usually sought assistance from the companies and that they cooperated in most cases, although at times they did not comply because of company terms and conditions.

‘There is no lack of effort and cordiality in addressing the issues. We are planning to expand our capacity to contain cybercrime,’ the CID chief said.

CID data show that 180,510 victims sought assistance from the centre through its page and phone calls between January 1, 2020 and April 30, 2026.

Although the CID established the Cyber Police Centre in 2020, the Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s Detective Branch established the Cyber Support Centre in November 2025.

According to DMP DB data, seven people receive services from the Cyber Support Centre every day.

The data show that 1,187 victims visited the support centre between November 20, 2025 and April 30, 2026. Of them, 909 received services while 278 sought advice.

‘Now, crime patterns have shifted to cyberspace and are increasing gradually. We have been facing a huge workload since establishing the Cyber Support Centre. We will have to increase our manpower in the future to tackle the situation,’ said DMP DB Cyber Security and Support Centre (South) joint commissioner Syed Harun-or-Rashid.

He said that police stations are the only places where general diaries, complaints and cases can be filed, and that the centre primarily advises victims on whether they should file a GD or a complaint.

‘After filing GDs or complaints, we refer them to our cyber unit for investigation,’ he added.

Besides people seeking advice or support from the DB’s Cyber Support Centre, 1,483 general diaries and 94 cases were recorded in Dhaka city between January and April 2026, according to the Cyber and Special Crime Division of the Detective Branch.

DB data show that 3,100 general diaries and 294 cybercrime cases are currently under investigation.

A senior official of the DMP cybercrime and special crime unit told New Age that they initially advise victims on the course of legal action, whether to file a general diary or a complaint.

‘We are yet to be equipped with modern laboratories, skilled investigation teams and digital forensic experts, which are necessary to provide full support to victims,’ the police official said.

Dhaka Metropolitan Police DB chief and additional police commissioner Md Shafiqul Islam, however, said that such facilities could not be established overnight and would be developed gradually.

Shafiqul said that the Bangladesh Police was planning to establish cyber units in all districts across the country.

According to CID data, complaints relating to the hacking of 228 mobile financial service accounts were lodged between June 1, 2025 and April 30, 2026. Besides, 42 complaints were filed over hacked debit cards, credit cards and bank accounts during the period.

The data also show that 1,987 online harassment complaints were reported during the 11 months ending April 30.