# NEIR Reveals Over 39 Million Mobile Connections Using a Single IMEI

> After launching the National Equipment Identity Register (NEIR), Bangladesh revealed alarming mobile phone fraud. Over the past decade, one IMEI number was used for 39.1 million connections. Millions of citizens use low…

Published: 2026-01-04 · Desk: Latest · Source: Dhaka Post

Following the launch of the National Equipment Identity Register (NEIR), startling insights into mobile phone usage in Bangladesh have emerged. Government analysis reveals that over the past decade, more than 39.1 million mobile connections have been active on the network using just a single IMEI number.

This information was shared on social media on Friday (January 2) by Foyez Ahmed Tayyab, Special Assistant to the Chief Adviser on Posts, Telecommunications, and Information Technology.

He stated that after the NEIR launch, data on “clone phones” has come to light, exposing a level of irregularity previously unimaginable. Currently, mobile networks host an enormous number of unrealistic, patterned IMEI numbers such as ‘1111111111111’, ‘0000000000000’, and ‘9999999999999’. However, these IMEIs are not being blocked at this stage.

According to Tayyab, millions of citizens use low-quality, counterfeit phones that have never undergone radiation or SAR testing, or any other safety checks. These devices are widely active across the networks of all four mobile operators in the country. To avoid inconveniencing the public, these phones will not be disconnected, but will instead be marked as “gray” in the system.

Over the last ten years, a single IMEI number ‘99999999999999’ was used to register 39,122,534 connections, according to NEIR data, gathered by combining document IDs, MSISDNs, and IMEIs.

Tayyab also mentioned that such IMEIs could belong not only to smartphones but also to various IoT devices. Operators currently cannot distinguish between mobile, SIM-connected, and IoT devices using the same IMEI. In some cases, CCTV or other devices may have been registered under the same IMEI. However, work has begun to tag legitimately imported IoT devices separately.

Analysis of top IMEIs shows that IMEI ‘440015202000’ is active on over 1.9 million devices as duplicates. Similarly, IMEI ‘35227301738634’ appears on over 1.75 million devices, and IMEI ‘35275101952326’ on over 1.25 million devices. Shockingly, even a single-digit IMEI ‘0’ has been detected on 586,331 active devices.

Another list revealed that multiple fake and duplicate IMEIs have over 100,000 devices each active on the network. Tayyab commented that anyone would be astonished by these figures.

While the extent of clone and counterfeit phone use was somewhat known, its depth and scale were far more alarming than previously understood.

According to a 2024 report by Bangladesh Bank, 73% of digital fraud in the country occurs via unregistered devices. Moreover, joint data from BTRC and mobile financial service providers shows that in 2023, 85% of e-KYC fraud involved illegal or reprogrammed handsets.

Additionally, 180,000 mobile phones were reported stolen in 2023, with many more likely unreported, and most stolen devices have not been recovered.

Tayyab emphasized that a large number of counterfeit phones have been sold to citizens under the guise of new, unofficial devices, representing an unprecedented and alarming level of fraud. Tackling this issue has now become urgently necessary.

For context, the government officially launched the NEIR on January 1 to control the use of unlicensed and unofficial handsets. This system registers all mobile phone IMEI numbers in a national database, ensuring better monitoring and regulation of devices across the country.

Original reporting: https://www.dhakapost.com/national/421056
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