NEIR uncovers massive use of clone, fake IMEI phones
City Desk :
The newly launched National Equipment Identity Register (NEIR) has uncovered a disturbing scale of clone and counterfeit mobile phone usage nationwide, with millions of fake and duplicate IMEI numbers currently active on mobile networks.
NEIR has identified numerous irregular IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity) patterns, including “1111111111111”, “0000000000000” and “9999999999999”, operating across the country, says a press release of Ministry of Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology on Saturday.
The disclosure follows the January 1 rollout of the long-anticipated NEIR system by the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC), aimed at curbing the use of clone and counterfeit mobile devices.
The release, however, said that these IMEI numbers are not being blocked immediately. Instead, they are being marked as “grey” to prevent disruption to public life, as the interim government has opted against sudden measures that could inconvenience users.
IMEI is a unique identification number assigned to every mobile phone and SIM-enabled device. An IMEI usually consists of 15 digits and works like a fingerprint for a handset, allowing mobile networks and authorities to identify a device separately from the SIM card being used.
According to the findings, millions of people in Bangladesh are using low-quality counterfeit handsets that have never undergone mandatory safety checks, including radiation and Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) testing. These devices are active across the networks of all four mobile operators and are widely spread throughout the country.
According to the release, data from the last 10 years showed that a single IMEI number, “99999999999999”, has been linked to a total of 3,91,22,534 connections through different combinations of document ID, MSISDN and IMEI. Experts noted that such IMEI numbers may belong not only to smartphones but also to Internet of Things (IoT) devices.
Currently, mobile operators are unable to distinguish IMEI usage among mobile phones, SIM-enabled devices and IoT equipment. As a result, devices such as CCTV systems may also be operating under identical IMEI numbers.
The government has started separately tagging legally imported IoT devices to address this issue.
Analysis of the most frequently used duplicate IMEI numbers shows that around 19.50 lakh devices are active under the IMEI “440015202000”. Another around 17.50 lakh devices were found using “35227301738634”, while over 15 lakh devices are operating under “35275101952326”.
Even the single-digit zero “0” IMEI number has been detected on 586,331 active devices, said the ministry release.
Authorities have compiled a list of fake and duplicate IMEI numbers with more than 100,000 active connections each, underscoring the scale and seriousness of the problem.
Officials said this pattern reflects how certain clone or counterfeit devices have spread widely across the country’s mobile networks, emphasizing the need for continued monitoring under the NEIR system.
Although the presence of clone and counterfeit phones in the domestic market was known earlier, officials said the depth of the problem became fully apparent only after NEIR was implemented.
A Bangladesh Bank report published in 2024 said 73 percent of digital fraud cases in the country occur through unregistered devices.
Joint data from the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) and mobile financial service (MFS) providers showed that 85 percent of e-KYC fraud incidents in 2023 involved illegal or reprogrammed handsets.
In the same year, around 180,000 mobile phone thefts were officially reported, while several hundred thousand more cases went unreported, and most of the stolen devices were not recovered.
Officials said selling counterfeit phones to consumers in the name of unofficial new handsets represents an unprecedented level of fraud, stressing that curbing such practices is essential in the public interest.
