The rollout of the National Equipment Identity Register (NEIR) has uncovered shocking information about the widespread use of clone and fake mobile phones across Bangladesh, revealing the presence of millions of fraudulent and duplicate IMEI numbers on mobile networks.
According to official data, mobile networks are currently carrying millions of fake IMEI numbers such as “1111111111111”, “0000000000000”, “9999999999999” and other similar patterns.
Although these IMEIs have been identified, the government has decided not to block them immediately to avoid disruption to public life. Instead, such devices will be tagged as “grey” under the NEIR system, according to a release of ICT and Telecom ministry.
Officials said millions of Bangladeshis are unknowingly using low-quality counterfeit handsets that have never undergone mandatory radiation, Specific Absorption Rate (SAR), or other safety tests. These phones remain active across all four mobile operators’ networks and are spread nationwide.
Data covering the last decade show that a single IMEI number — “99999999999999” — appeared as many as 39.12 million times in different combinations of document ID, MSISDN and IMEI.
Authorities noted that, alongside smartphones, such IMEIs may also be linked to various Internet of Things (IoT) devices. Since operators cannot technically distinguish between mobile handsets, SIM-connected devices and IoT equipment, the government has begun a separate tagging process for legally imported IoT devices.
An analysis of the most frequently used duplicate IMEIs shows massive duplication. Around 1.95 million active devices share the IMEI “440015202000”, while approximately 1.76 million devices are linked to “35227301738634” and more than 1.52 million to “35275101952326”. Even an IMEI consisting solely of the digit zero was found to be used by 586,331 active devices.
The list of fake and duplicate IMEIs with more than 100,000 active devices runs into dozens. Other heavily duplicated IMEIs include “35464802000025” with over 539,000 devices, “35868800000015” with more than 532,000, and several others each connected to hundreds of thousands of active handsets.
Telecom officials said the findings paint a disturbing picture of the extent of clone and counterfeit phones in the domestic market, despite years of regulatory efforts.
The security implications are also severe. According to a 2024 Bangladesh Bank report, 73 percent of digital fraud incidents occur on unregistered devices. Joint data from the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) and mobile financial service (MFS) providers show that 85 percent of e-KYC fraud cases in 2023 involved illegal phones or reprogrammed handsets.
In the same year, about 180,000 mobile phone thefts were officially reported, while experts believe several hundred thousand more cases went unreported. Most of the stolen devices were never recovered.
Industry insiders and regulators described the sale of counterfeit phones to consumers under the guise of new, unofficial handsets as unprecedented and deeply concerning. They stressed that decisive action is urgently needed in the public interest to rein in the syndicates behind the illegal trade and to strengthen digital security nationwide.