Fake Charity Scams via bKash
How fraudulent charity appeals target Bangladeshi donors through bKash mobile money and what steps verify a charitable cause before sending.
Part of: Fake Charity Scams
Last reviewed: 1 June 2026
Bangladesh is a country with a strong tradition of community giving and a highly developed mobile financial services sector centred on bKash. Fraudsters exploit both, creating fake charity campaigns — often claiming to help flood victims, displaced families, or medical patients — and directing donations to personal bKash numbers that funnel directly to the perpetrator.
The ubiquity of bKash and the cultural resonance of charitable giving create conditions where even sceptical donors may not pause to verify a collection number before sending a small amount. Aggregate losses across thousands of small donations can be substantial.
How this scam works on bKash
Fake charity posts circulate on Facebook and WhatsApp, often sharing genuinely distressing images borrowed from news reports. A bKash personal number is provided alongside a compelling narrative. The operator posts regular updates with fabricated progress reports to encourage repeat donations.
In some cases the fraudster creates a fake bKash merchant account by registering with false documents, giving the appearance of an institutional account. Others simply use a personal number, relying on the victim's inability to distinguish between a personal and merchant bKash number from the payment screen alone.
High-profile natural disasters in Bangladesh — cyclones, floods — regularly produce a wave of fake charity campaigns that launch within hours of news coverage.
Common red flags
- Donation appeal directing funds to a personal bKash number rather than a registered organisation's merchant account
- Campaign imagery that appears in reverse searches under different contexts
- No verifiable organisation name, registration, or independent reporting on the cause
- Appeals that arrive only through social media shares with no traceable origin
- Urgency claims that donations are needed within hours
- No published bank account information or official receipt process
How to protect yourself
- Donate through the bKash merchant accounts of verified international NGOs or government relief channels
- Check the campaign against the NGO Affairs Bureau (NGOAB) registration database at ngoab.gov.bd
- Search the collection number on bKash to see whether it is a personal or merchant account
- Ask for a verifiable registration number before donating to any unfamiliar organisation
- Report suspicious campaigns to bKash at 16247 and to the relevant social media platform
How to report it
- Report the bKash number to bKash fraud prevention via hotline 16247
- File a complaint with the Bangladesh police cybercrime unit
- Report the fundraising post to the social media platform for fraud review
Frequently asked questions
How can I tell if a bKash charity number is legitimate?
A legitimate charity will use a bKash merchant account registered under its organisation name, will have a published NGOAB registration number, and will be verifiable through independent sources. A personal bKash number presented only through social media posts with no institutional verification is a red flag.