InfoSecBulletin Cybersecurity for mankind
There are currently millions of fake IMEI numbers in Bangladesh’s network. Such as “111111111111”, “0000000000000”, “99999999999999” and similar patterns.
According to the Special Assistant to the Chief Advisor of the Interim Government of Bangladesh Faiz Taiyeb Ahmad, millions of citizens are using low-quality fake phones. These phones have never undergone various types of safety tests including radiation tests, Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) Testing. These phones are widely spread across the networks of four mobile operators. These phones will not be shut down but will be tagged as gray by the government now.
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Shocking number
As a total number in the last 10 years, only one IMEI number 99999999999999 has been found in 3 crore 91 lakh 22 thousand 534 with various combinations (Document ID + MSISDN + IMEI). Apart from smartphones, such IMEIs can also be of various IOT devices. Although the operator cannot differentiate the IMEI of mobile devices, SIM-connected devices and IoT devices. For example, CCTV or similar devices may have been brought with the same IMEI number. Bangladesh government has started tagging legally imported IoT devices separately.
A list of some of the top 19.5 million IMEI numbers shows that the IMEI number of 440015202000 is 440015202000; which have been brought as duplicates. Thus:
Seventeen and a half million at number 35227301738634
Fifteen and a half million at number 35275101952326
There are 586,331 IMEI numbers with only 1 digit zero.
If we look at the numbers below, let’s see the list of fake and duplicate IMEIs that are active on the network for over 100,000.
440015202000 -> 1949088
35227301738634 -> 1758848
35275101952326 -> 1523571
0 -> 586331
35464802000025 -> 539648
35868800000015 -> 532867
86740002031661 -> 463017
86740002031662 -> 413814
13579024681122 -> 276907
35210801000230 -> 213789
151515151515 -> 210037
35975900251493 -> 194782
35868800009385 -> 190393
35505002098451 -> 168560
35945478498188 -> 158556
35464802000000 -> 150546
35391902568013 -> 147065
35973800955340 -> 127184
35325905457468 -> 126596
35968800000015 -> 124440
35827311738634 -> 114781
35448501567207 -> 114671
86301402000005 -> 106314
35411208064429 -> 103281
According to a 2024 report by Bangladesh Bank, 73 percent of digital frauds occurred on unregistered devices. According to joint data from BTRC and MFS operators, 85 percent of e-KYC frauds in 2023 occurred using illegal phones or reprogrammed handsets. In 2023, 1.8 million phone thefts were reported (with several hundred thousand more unreported), most of these phones could not be recovered.
Faiz Ahmed Tayyab mentioned that such frauds of selling fake phones in the name of unofficial new phones to the citizens of Bangladesh are unimaginable and unprecedented.
On January-01-2026, Bangladesh launched National Equipment Identity Register (NEIR) system to block unauthorized phones.
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