Chinese Citizens Accused of Portraying Dhaka as India in Livestreams

No, no, no.

Standing on Bangladeshi soil, Bangladesh is being shown as India.

A market for Indian products is being set up in front of the camera.

And that scene is being sold live in China.

Behind this innovative digital fraud is a group of Chinese nationals, whose unchecked roaming has Dhaka residents fearing for their personal privacy.

No English.

With smartphones in hand, from morning till night a group of Chinese nationals roam the alleys of Dhaka like this.

As they film, they enter people's homes, from bedrooms to bathrooms.

But when we approached them with a camera to ask why they roam freely, they said, “No English,” then evaded us and hopped straight into a rickshaw.

Nagad Islamic app in a new avatar. New experiences with the best-ever technology and smart service Everything will be nonstop on the fastest Nagad Islamic app.

But why all the secrecy? It has been reported that in the capital, in Uttara Sector 12 and the Tekpara area, every day from morning, they do live videos like this.

A group of Chinese nationals. But behind these live streams, an unusual digital scam is underway.

Their main targets for this scam are now local pharmacies.

They wouldn't sell this even for a thousand taka. They don't sell these.

They don't sell a single one in Bangladesh.

Then why did you keep this here? They keep it here, and use it to make videos.

I don't know why I keep it. I don't know.

It's soap. Soap. This is Indian soap. So, next, you have this shampoo here.

They have some fixed products. They sell them.

So they sell them online. They advertise here.

During the ads, people in their country book it.

Accordingly, they sell products from various companies.

They arrange these here, just empty packets.

See these things here? They set up a mobile in front like this to make videos This is how they film the audience.

What's in this? Nothing. Here, this is what they left at your pharmacy, or— Your— No, no, they didn't leave it with us.

They don't sell it. She doesn't sell it, she only adds it. Keeps it? Okay, does a live stream.

So why did you keep this here? Why don't they keep it?

I mean, tell me, why do they keep it? Do they have some vested interest, or do they pay you?

Yes, yes. I mean, could you explain a little?

They make a payment to you if, on the day you work— They'll pay 500 taka for doing this live stream.

For one day? For one day. Is that why you keep this product?

I mean, I don't keep it. They do a live stream, then leave it, and take it away again, leave it there, that sort of thing.

They don't sell these products. They don't sell them? They don't sell them, they don't sell them.

They don't sell them, they just do a live stream?

They just do a live stream. In return, you're taking 500 taka.

Don't you ever feel like asking why, or for what reason they're doing this?

They can't go live in India. That's why they do it from Bangladesh, from Pakistan, from Nepal, from Bhutan.

They travel around different countries and go live.

When they go live, does this represent Bangladesh or India? It represents India.

Five hundred taka for each live? No, no, no. No.

They pay five hundred taka on the days they work.

On days they don't work, they don't pay them, like that.

Do they understand Bengali? No. Then how do they communicate with them?

With this translator. For five hundred taka a day in rent, in front of the pharmacy, rows of various Indian products are lined up and kept there, soap, shampoo, and cosmetic packages.

And showing these packages, through WeChat, they're running booming live ads for products in China.

We can see, Chinese citizens have left quite a few boxes here.

Their products are actually inside them, and there are a lot of details written here.

Maybe we can see a list of what products are here.

We can see it. I actually want to take a look at what products they've brought here and what's inside them.

This product I'm holding, actually looks like an Indian product, and on this product it says the price is 600 taka.

But there's actually nothing inside this packet.

The whole packet is completely empty. The products in the packets are mainly Indian and Chinese citizens are livestreaming on WeChat where they show this is India, not Bangladesh.

In their WeChat livestreams, they don't just change the place names, they portray the Nirmoy area of Bangladesh in an extremely negative light to viewers.

On one hand, the country is being severely insulted, and on the other, locals are fed up with violations of their privacy.

Ma'am, do Chinese people come around here?

Yes, they do. I mean, what do they say when they come?

Basically, what do they want to know or show?

I wonder what they say as they walk down the street.

We don't understand what they say to each other.

I only see them making videos and talking.

The doors of the houses are left open, and they go in. They enter without asking and film with their phones.

There are many women there, and they go in and film them.

Now, if we went to someone's home in their country and filmed, they wouldn't allow us to.

Now they come to our country and film, but our government takes no action.

That's why the Chinese film here. They go into this slum and always hand out papers and cigarettes.

Some people go, "Hi, hi." That's about it.

They always do it right here. God only knows what they do.

They go into the houses and pay money on both sides.

They walk around the slum and make videos.

They go inside the houses. What do they do?

They go and film. They walk down the street and talk.

I don't understand what they're saying. When people ask, many of them say in Bengali, "We're advertising oil," or something like that. They speak Bengali?

Yes, they don't say it in Bengali. They write it in Bengali.

For months, foreigners have been spreading such scams and misinformation but the authorities have taken no visible action.

On this matter, the officer in charge of Uttara West Police Station said they would speak with senior officials and take swift action.

We will look into this, if this has indeed happened.

We will investigate it within the framework of the law.

We will also speak with our more senior officials, with our superiors as well.

I hope a fruitful solution may come out of this. Thank you.

We will make our visible, uh, that, uh, mobile vigilance even greater.

Bangladeshi pharmacies, Indian products' rooster, and customers from China.

When will this novel digital scam, operating in the names of three countries, end?

Baizid Saad, Bangla Vision, Dhaka.