Prevalence of Mass Financial Fraud in Rural Areas: An Exploratory Study in Tangail, Bangladesh

Abstract Financial fraud activities are very frequent in recent days in rural areas where people are more in need of money and desperate to make some in any way possible. This research explores the nature, causes, and consequences of rural financial fraud with the impact on rural life and the responses of law enforcement to these occurrences. The primary data for this study was collected through in-depth interview from 24 victims of financial fraud, and 4 KIIs were conducted to get the data through semi-structured questionnaires using the qualitative research method, and the findings are presented using thematic analysis. This study found greed, temptation, and believing in fraudsters are the main causes of these fraud incidents. The fraudster, in all cases, motivated the victims in a certain way and took as much money as possible before running away, and the responses of law enforcement, credit cooperative authorities, and the local government are not satisfactory as they did nothing much to prevent and combat these fraudulent activities. The impact of these fraudulent schemes is severe, as the victims faced financial breakdown, family pressure, and psychological pressure. Moreover, reducing cravings for money, inspecting schemes before investing, monitoring by the respective authorities and building awareness among people can be preventive factors to stop these kinds of rural financial fraud.