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Chief Whip Nurul Islam Moni has warned members of parliament about a growing scam in which their mobile numbers are allegedly being hacked to send messages seeking urgent money transfers.
Fraudsters have reportedly been sending messages such as “Please send Tk 50,000 urgently” or “Send Tk 30,000” using hacked numbers of MPs.
The chief whip raised the issue during a point-of-order discussion in Parliament on Thursday (September 10), urging lawmakers to remain vigilant.
“Yesterday, three MPs told me that they had received messages asking them to urgently send Tk 50,000, Tk 30,000 or Tk 25,000. The messages came from three numbers. I tried to contact the people whose numbers were used, but they did not answer my calls. That means their mobile numbers had been hacked,” he said.
Drawing the attention of MPs to the issue, Moni said it was important for lawmakers to remain highly cautious and make the public aware of such scams.
He also said fraudsters were using voice cloning and forged documents to deceive people. In some cases, forged signatures were allegedly being used to produce fake documents.
“Many opposition MPs have faced this, and members of the ruling party have also been affected,” he said.
Deputy Speaker Kaisar Kamal, responding to the chief whip, said preventive measures should be the responsibility of the state and relevant authorities rather than individuals who fall victim to such fraud.
In response, Moni said the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) had already started working on preventive measures following discussions on the issue on Wednesday.
The chief whip also raised another security-related issue, saying face-recognition devices had been installed at all Parliament lobby entrances but were not being properly used.
He said around 120 to 122 people were entering without undergoing face recognition and urged all MPs to use the system before entering the parliamentary chamber.
