Police in UAE clamp down on phone 'credit' peddlers

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Police in UAE clamp down on phone credit peddlers

Sharjah - A total of 37 Asians have been arrested in the last three months.

by

Afkar Ali Ahmed

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Published: Sat 13 Jul 2019, 12:00 AM

Last updated: Sat 13 Jul 2019, 2:11 PM

Despite the massive police crackdown on phone scammers, men peddling prepaid credits are still being spotted on Sharjah streets, authorities and residents have said.
A total of 37 Asians - believed to be part of the gangs that run the prepaid load racket - have been arrested in the last three months, said Col Ibrahim Al Ajill, director of the criminal investigation department of the Sharjah Police.
"Most of the peddlers who were arrested were Asian workers and illegal residents. Some were flown into the country specifically for the scheme," according to the police.
The peddlers were often found standing on certain spots in Rolla, Guwair, Mussala, Mysalon and Buntain, among others. Targetting workers and teenagers who cannot afford to buy the Dh25 minimum prepaid credit, they would stop people on the street and offer them cheap load balances from as low as Dh2, Dh5 or Dh10, and any other amount. 
Credits would then be transferred to the buyer straight from the peddler's phone.
Residents' complaint
Several residents have expressed their concern over the peddlers' presence in their area, as they could see them on their streets even at past midnight.
Mahalakshmi, who lives and works in Rolla, said that during her everyday walk to her office, she sees young people stopping others on the streets to offer prepaid load.
"They even stop vehicle, and the scheme becomes more evident in the evening," she said.
Another resident, Ashraf Abdulgafour, said that while he was familiar with the practice, "the number of peddlers had declined to just one or two" in their area.
How do they get the credits?
Selling prepaid credits on the streets is illegal mainly because no licence had been acquired for such 'business' and it had become a security threat. 
But on top of that, investigations have shown that such a racket is part of a bigger crime, said Khaled Al Mazmi, a researcher and legal adviser.
"These peddlers sell the prepaid credits that had been transferred by victims of phone scams," he said. 
In a recent case at the Sharjah Misdemeanour Court, an Asian national was able to obtain Dh3,800 worth of phone credits from an Arab woman. 
The accused called the woman and convinced her that she had won a prize of Dh1 million and asked her to transfer mobile credits to pay certain fees .
After receiving the balance, the defendant ended the call. 
During a court hearing, the defendant confessed to the crime and said he sold the credits to some other people.
Awareness drives
Thanks to awareness campaigns rolled out by the police, residents have been repeatedly warned not to believe unscrupulous callers who tell them that they have won big cash prizes and they just have to transfer phone credits to claim their 'winnings'. 
Previously, the police used to receive complaints from victims who were duped into transferring mobile load, ranging from Dh500 to Dh30,000.
"Some of the gangs that were arrested during the previous year managed to collect a sum of Dh300,000 in two months' time from random victims," according to the police. 
Now that more residents have been informed of the scam, incidents have declined this year, police said. 
afkarali@khaleejtimes.com


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