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20 Pakistanis arrested for fraud

Sharjah - 20 Pakistanis arrested for phone credit fraud

The Sharjah Police have arrested 20 Pakistanis found committing fraud by convincing their victims that they had won prizes and that they need to send money to claim them,

Lieutenant Colonel Faisal Bin Nassar, Deputy Director of CID at Sharjah Police, said the suspects called the victims and convinced them that they had won Dh200,000 and an iPhone 6S from Etisalat provided they send the suspects prepaid phone credit worth Dh5,000 to Dh10,000 to claim the prizes.

He explained that the suspects rented two flats in Al Nahda area and used different telephone numbers to call people as part of the scheme. They then got rid of the phone numbers to avoid tracking by the police.

Lt. Col. Bin Nassar said the police received a several complaints from people and formed police teams to track down the subjects. Following an intense investigation, the team managed to trap them and arrest them red-handed.

The police also raided their apartment where they seized a large number of mobile phones, SIM cards and cash.

The suspects confessed their crimes and told the police that after they get the calling credits from the victims they sell them to other people at a cheaper rate to get the cash. Based on their confession, the police have referred them to the Public Prosecution.

The police have warned the public against falling victim to these kinds of fraud, and noted that police efforts and awareness campaigns in several languages have led to a decrease in such crimes.

afkarali@khaleejtimes.com