The popularity of Chandpur's silver hilsa is no longer confined to the river or the fish wholesale markets. Through Facebook and other online platforms the fish now reaches buyers from one end of the country to the other. But a fraud ring has become active, exploiting that popularity. It opens fake Facebook pages and online accounts and lures buyers with attractive advertisements, prices far below market rates and tempting offers.

Once an order is confirmed, advance payment is taken through bKash, Nagad or a bank account. As soon as the money arrives, the phone number is switched off and the Facebook page disappears. In many cases fish from other districts is also sent under the name of Chandpur hilsa; because they look almost the same, many buyers do not realise they have been cheated.

Such fraud does not only cost ordinary buyers money. It damages the long-earned reputation and brand value of Chandpur hilsa and hurts genuine online hilsa traders. They say the fraudsters are eroding buyers' trust, many people are losing interest in buying hilsa online, and legitimate online business is suffering.

Police have arrested several people from Chandpur, Noakhali, Pabna and other parts of the country over online hilsa fraud. Most recently, on 8 September, Chandpur District Detective Branch (DB) police raided the Kalia police station area of Narail and arrested four fraudsters. Ten mobile phones, 46 SIM cards, two of them Indian, and Tk 75,000 in cash were seized from them.

Those arrested are Furkan Sheikh (25), Chandu Sheikh (25), Ratul Hossain Nobel (25) and Shahidul Sheikh (23), all from the Kalia police station area of Narail.

Police said the ring collected photos and videos from Facebook, edited them and opened fake Facebook pages and WhatsApp IDs. It then made fake advertisements and reels for hilsa, furniture, shoes, pens, children's toys and online jobs and spread them through boosted posts. Members used SIM cards registered in other people's names to contact buyers, and blocked buyers' numbers as soon as they had paid in advance.

Safayet Hossain, an online hilsa seller at Chandpur fish landing, said the online fraudsters had put genuine sellers in great difficulty. Buyers now do not want to trust even original Facebook pages, and many order fish and then send it back. He said buyers should always see the fish on a video call before buying online and, where possible, take delivery on a cash-on-delivery basis.

Abdul Bari Manik Jamadar, president of the Chandpur Fish Traders' Association, said the fraud ring had become active over the past two to three years, copying videos made by Chandpur traders and posting them on their own pages to deceive people. Genuine online hilsa traders never take money in advance, he said. He urged buyers across the country to check carefully and buy only from registered traders, and called on the administration to step up monitoring of online fraud.

Chandpur Additional Superintendent of Police Nadira Noor said police teams were constantly working to catch online fraud rings. Units of Chandpur district police had used information technology to trace the suspects and arrested four in a raid in the Kalia police station area of Narail. Including two arrested earlier over the same incident, six people have so far been sent to court.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.