'Hello, can you speak English?': A dive into what happens when you respond to these suspicious calls

"Hello, I'm Maria from Snaptech Marketing Company. Can you speak English?" 

By now, you may have heard this from a random number. The name of the caller varies, and so does the name of the company. The accent on the other side of the phone sounds foreign and likely difficult to detect — it may sound African, East Asian, Indian or local. 

If you listen in carefully, you may even hear similar kinds of voices in the background — those are other operators with other unsuspecting people on the phone; like Maria had me on the phone. 

The caller offers remote, easy and, of course, profitable jobs. His/her mostly broken English is perhaps the one distinctive red flag. 

Last year, it was just texts – SMS leading to WhatsApp chats or direct WhatsApp messages– offering work-from-home opportunities. Messages would come in, promising earnings of thousands from the comfort of your home. 

After receiving texts repeatedly, I decided to follow their instructions on 15 August. Spoiler alert, I stopped pursuing it when it led me down a rabbit hole.

However, in recent months, these calls — "Hello I am X calling from Y company. Can you speak English?" – have escalated in number. After receiving several calls, I decided to pursue this lucrative "opportunity" once more.  

It's evident that both instances (text message tactic and direct call tactic) generate from the same group of people. Although the tactics have slightly improved, the pattern remains identical. In August, they offered Tk150 to get me started, but this time, the figure doubled. They offered Tk300.

I have spoken to at least 20 individuals who confirmed to The Business Standard that they received these calls as well. Most of them ignored the calls, and some played along with them like I did.

Down the rabbit hole

The game begins with a WhatsApp message like this, or some variation of the following: "Congratulations on being selected. Your task is to subscribe to these two YouTube channels [two links inserted] and provide screenshots." 

You'll be instructed to subscribe to two popular YouTube channels like Rokomari, SamZone, or ATC Android ToTo Company, etc. The message also includes: "We will proceed further on Telegram. Do you have it?" 

That's the point—to get you onto Telegram. Because Telegram doesn't require the sender's number, and chats or accounts can be deleted there. The Telegram ID they contacted me from in August has been deleted.

The WhatsApp person provides "an invitation number" or "code" if you will. Also, he/she shares a Telegram ID which is called a "receptionist." The next step is to get on the Telegram app, add the "receptionist" ID and share the code with him/her. The receptionist, through Telegram, will release your payment for subscribing to the channels. 

So, I contacted the receptionist. 

Last time it was Farin; this time, it was Sabera Mehrin. Regardless of the name, there's a high chance the person is Bangladeshi, as this person can communicate in 'Banglish' and  Bangla.

After sending the message to the receptionist, you must send a screenshot to the initial WhatsApp contact. Probably, that's his/her task accomplished. Then, it's all handled through Telegram.

The person on Telegram will request basic information: your name, age, gender, occupation and the account you want the payment deposited. After providing this information, you receive the payment promptly. 

Yes, you receive it for real. Then, they offer to guide you further, promising more opportunities to get rich.

These exchanges via WhatsApp and Telegram are so well-synced that one might as well wonder if there's only one person operating two different apps on the other side. 

After joining, you'll be added to a Telegram channel named something like "Snaptech Digital Media" (in my case) or "Wellness Session" (in someone else's case). These are essentially what they call "Task Group." 

Here you'll see numerous participants, completing tasks. 

The number of people could be around 20 or even 50. Akash Ahmed, a university student, who mentioned encountering 50 members in a group at this stage. Payment is issued after completing every three tasks — basically subscribing to YouTube channels within a set time.

Within the group, you'll see members sharing screenshots of completed tasks, payments received and requests for more tasks –a very automated exchange of communication.

Upon closer observation, these screenshots appear very suspicious. First, their names and profile photos look odd. Secondly, and more importantly, their communication. No one seems to raise any issues or ask questions about the process. 

There might be a genuine participant in the group along with you, but the majority seem likely to be part of a set up – creating an illusion that everyone else is profiting while you're falling behind.

The tasks

Tasks assigned vary randomly, such as 27 daily tasks (generally YouTube subscriptions and post-paid tasks, meaning — after completion, I get paid), 22 reviews and approximately five prepaid tasks, which are highly paid.     For instance, a Tk2400 'plan' requires me to invest Tk1600 first, earning me Tk800. 

Here's the twist: avoiding prepaid tasks for too long will lead to disqualification from the job – you will be removed from the "Task Group." 

Tasks are released every 20 minutes, leaving little room for second guesses due to the fast-approaching deadlines. Prepaid tasks entail sending amounts ranging from Tk 1,000 to Tk 100,000. 

The promise is enticing - for example, sending Tk 1,000 yields Tk 1,300 in return, Tk 2,000 results in Tk 2,600, Tk 5,000 translates to Tk 7,000 and Tk 35,000 promises Tk 50,000 in return.

Earlier, it was possible to earn the initial money several times.  Akash Khan took Tk900 from them by taking part in three separate postpaid taks, but never proceeded further or contacted them again. "They contacted me several times and paid me for the first few tasks," he said. 

But now they can detect who they paid before. Recently they refused to pay me as, I assume, they knew I registered before and discontinued.

When I told them "I did not have the money then to invest so I discontinued; but now I am willing to invest" – they offered me a new scheme called 'Advance Benefit Order'. 

In this scheme I can start investing from Tk1,600 to Tk644,800 in 11 steps. In the beginning, they offer Tk2,400 in return for an advance investment of Tk1,600. And at the top level   cashback amount is Tk838,240 for Tk6 lakh initial investment — meaning from this scheme I can earn, in profit, somewhere between Tk800 to around Tk2 lakh. 

I received this message: "As per job rules, an advance profit order job means you have to buy an order amount of 1600BDT to increase your income and earning income. When you complete an order of 1600 BDT, you will get a refund along with a commission of 2400 BDT from the company, and your salary will be fixed at 100 BDT working."

I took a risk to see what would happen if I invested Tk1,600. This time, they sent me to a mentor, Alex William, who guided me through the whole process. When he asked me to open an account on a dummy crypto site www.cointimeonline.cc, I was almost sure my Taka was gone. 

He sent me screenshots of every step – how to register, how to open a wallet, where to put my bank account, bkash account etc. Finally, he led me to engage in some kind of game where I had to wait like 180 seconds, then my crypto account showed that I had Tk2,400 in the crypto. 

Then he asked me to withdraw money through a bank account, I put the account name and number, but I got money through bkash. Finally, I got the money back as promised. 

It is fairly likely that If I invest next, they will show that my amount is being added to that dummy crypto account, and there is a high chance that I won't get my money back. Their website did not seem to have an automatic system, rather they manually sent me the Taka. 

In the whole process, I had to send a lot of screenshots to different accounts to confirm that I was proceeding with them. I don't think I can take any further risk, nor should anyone else even come this far. 

Surprisingly, they sent me a joining bonus of Tk300 before I went to the next level. Nice try. Now it's too good to be true. I decided to put an end to my chase here.

My experience might prompt some people to wonder whether this scheme is designed to draw more clicks to certain Youtube channels - and hence a legitimate source for people to earn some money - but even that appears questionable since Mahmud Hasan Sadi, the Head of Brand Strategy at Rokomari, categorically denied they had hired anyone to draw clicks to their channel. 

So it is unclear why these tasks are assigned in the first place, beyond wanting to draw and hook unsuspecting people into the larger scam.  

'Call spoofing'   

These numbers are mostly unreachable if you call back. But there are also numbers that lead to people who don't know that their numbers have been used in this scheme. 

This is a sign of call spoofing – the process of changing the Caller ID to any number other than the actual number calling.

For example, Ujjal Hossain, aged 37, is a farmer in Mohanpur, Rajshahi. His number was used to contact me through WhatsApp. But Ujjal is unaware of it and he doesn't even use a smartphone.

So how was it done?  

Cybersecurity expert Professor BM Mainul Hossain said "They use caller ID spoofing method. It is a traditional fake calling technique when a caller deliberately falsifies the information transmitted to your caller ID display, to disguise their identity. They can even send text from random numbers." 

Therefore he believes that it's technically a bit difficult to trace them. "But police can apply other methods, like analysing behavioural patterns, etc. They should have a separate cell for such scams," he added.  

What to do?

The police have yet to trace the group (or groups) responsible. Currently, they are advising people to stay vigilant and avoid responding to such calls or texts.

"Though we haven't received any written complaints, we are fully aware of the scam. Even I have received such calls," stated Md Bayzidur Rahman, Assistant Commissioner of Cyber Crime Investigation at DMP.

"This is a new modus operandi, making it challenging to track down the perpetrators. As similar scams in the past involved foreigners [past cases of similar scams over the phone], we suspect foreign involvement in this case as well," he added.

Police suspect that apart from call spoofing, the callers may possess bundles of SIM cards, which they use for a few calls before discarding. "These SIM cards are often purchased without any identification, making it difficult to trace them. However, efforts are underway to apprehend them, and it's only a matter of time before they are caught," assured the Assistant Commissioner. 

Traditional methods are being employed, but these people exploit certain loopholes. "For instance, they often use Nagad for payments, and opening a Nagad account requires only a SIM card, not an ID card," he added.

For now, Professor Mainul Hossain warns ordinary people to refrain from falling into such a trap. "Even educated people fall for such scams. Police should be agile in catching the scammers, but more importantly, people should be careful first," he suggested.