Pay first, lose later: Fake FB loan racket exposed

A tempting digital loan advertisement on Facebook would lure desperate borrowers with promises of quick cash, only to trap them into paying a 10 percent advance deposit before their money disappeared into the hands of fraudsters.

The victims would initially see the promised loan�"often running into lakhs of taka�"credited to a dashboard on a website. But the displayed money was merely a digital illusion: they could neither withdraw nor access it.

The Detective Branch (DB) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police has arrested a 19-year-old youth, Mehedi Hasan Mahin, over his alleged involvement in the online loan scam.