The Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) Unit of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) has arrested Al Imran Jewel on charges of defrauding people out of lakhs of taka by creating a counterfeit e-commerce site called Robishop and using it on a website and Facebook page.
The Cyber Crime Investigation Department of CTTC carried out the operation in Noakhali, resulting in the arrest of Al Imran Jewel on Wednesday morning.
The authorities seized a pen drive from him containing a backup copy of the fraudulent Robishop website.
According to CTTC, Al Imran Jewel had been involved in fraudulent activities for a significant period of time. He created a fake website named robishoper.com and a Facebook page called Robi Bangladesh, imitating the e-commerce site Robishop.com.bd, to deceive ordinary consumers and embezzle money.
Robi Bangladesh, a mobile phone operator, lodged a complaint at Gulshan police station on July 10, which led to the identification and arrest of the mastermind, Jewel.
Based on preliminary interrogation, it was revealed that Jewel had purchased a domain from a Japan-based domain and web hosting company, web.z.com, and hosting services from a Bangladesh-based web hosting company, allothost.com.
The gang attracted customers by offering attractive discounts of up to 50-70% on various products, using cloned images from other e-commerce sites for advertising.
To mislead consumers, a Facebook page called Robi Bangladesh was created. Unsuspecting individuals used the fake website and Facebook page to make purchases, believing it to be the authentic Robishop, and made payments to the provided Bkash, Cash, and Rocket numbers listed on the robishoper.com website.
To maintain anonymity, the fraudsters used a phone number associated with an online telephone service called Brilliant as a helpline for customers. They also provided an office address on the robishoper.com website to enhance credibility.
The group exploited fake websites by providing different payment options, such as Bkash, Cash, and Rocket numbers, to extort money from people. It is estimated that the gang has fraudulently obtained over Tk50 lakh in a short period of time.
Al Imran Jewel, the arrested individual, is a skilled web developer and the mastermind behind the gang, responsible for designing the fake website.
Assistant Commissioner of Police Md Ariful Hossain Tuhin from the Cyber Crime Investigation Department of CTTC revealed that Jewel had previously deceived consumers by creating counterfeit websites resembling well-known organizations, such as daraz.cl and realme.city.
Jewel has been presented in court with a remand application of seven days, following his arrest in a case filed at Gulshan police station, he added.
