It was 9:51 in the morning on March 9, 2024 when editor of Blitz – internationally acclaimed multi-award-winning journalist Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury received a message on one of his mobile phones on WhatsApp from a local number 01869541025 stating: “Hello…good morning. Hope you have a nice day. I am Fathima Naila the Global HR Recruiter of HAVAS Company…Are you still looking for a job, If so we have an amazing offer for you today??”
The editor was surprised for two reasons. How his number which is only known to a very limited people has reached into the hands of such people. Is it from the mobile phone company, which might be providing number of its subscribers to these rackets in exchange for financial benefit? Being curious, our editor just pretended as if he was interested in the job and continued text communication for a few minutes. Below is the details of the communication:
Editor: Looking for a job? Who?
Fathima Naila: We have a vacancy in our working from home department. You can do it easily on your mobile. good salary package and you can do it full-time, part-time or even in your free time. Shall I share more details?
Editor: Is it a Bangladeshi mobile number? I mean your number?
Fathima Naila: Yes it is.
Editor: Ok. So, I need to first meet your staffs and discuss the matter. I can’t trust only WhatsApp or phone conversation. Because, for online job, I may need to pay fees.
Fathima Naila: No sir, the work is completely free and home based. We will give you the names of different brands and places from country Bangladesh….your role work is just to search them on Google, give good comments and send me a screenshot because we want to raise their rating. We will pay you on a daily basis with the assignment by assignment completion at the same time through Bkash, Nagad or Bank Cards by our receptionist on Telegram. Is that clear?
Editor: How you got my number?
Fathima Naila: I got your number from our research team department and we provide this opportunity to many individuals and if you want to try it to know how we work, i can give you a demo assignment of 150 TK now where you can get by just completing and there is no any kind of charges for them.
Editor: You know who I am?
Fathima Naila: no sir, we dont get your informatiomn except for the contact details [we have not corrected the typos].
Editor: Okay. Wait until tonight to know who I am.
Fathima Naila: Why are you a president?
Editor: No, I am not a president. But I know how to take care of scammers. You have landed into a wrong place.
Fathima Naila: i have respectfully texted you to offer an opportunity and you have been misleading the conversation. if you are not interested please let us know so we dont have to disturb you again and also you cannot call me a scammer as i have not required you to pay me anything neither you have tried it. without trying out a offer you can never judge [we have not corrected the typos].
Editor: You can’t contact everyone. Before contacting you must make sure.
The WhatsApp identity of “Fathima Naila” is “Xbfdi” Education. There is no information on TrueCaller about 01869541025 number, which “Fathima Naila” used for contacting Blitz editor over WhatsApp, proving this number might have been in use just from the morning of March 9, 2024. But, the number of active, meaning it is not only used to contact people from WhatsApp.
From the above correspondence, it is evidently clear the so-called Fathima Naila is just a part of the scam rackets operating in the country targeting people with lucrative online jobs. According to experts, the cases of job scam is on rise in Bangladesh. Scammers generally follow several tactics such as:
- Scammers create phoney job ads on job websites or social media to lure job seekers with attractive offers,
- Scammers pretend to be genuine companies, offering fake job positions or promotions,
- Scammers send unsolicited messages via SMS, WhatsApp, or email, falsely claiming job offers,
- Scammers send emails that look real, asking for personal or financial information like bank details,
- Scammers request payment or deposits for interviews or processing, disguised as refunds or fees,
- Scammers use stolen information for identity theft or fraud, and
- Scammers ask for money upfront for training or services, then vanish, leaving victims without jobs or money.
According to cybersecurity experts, the online scam rackets do not just come with job offers – they may also appear in the form of business deals or offers education abroad etcetera. In the case of “Fathima Naila” this racket is also involved in education scam as the number 01869541025 on WhatsApp shows as “Xbfdi” and then “Education”.
