Sharjah police bust 18-man phone prize gang

Acting on a phone call from a woman in another Gulf country, police in Sharjah arrested 18 Pakistanis who turned the emirate into a base to extort money from victims across the oil-rich Gulf by misleading them into believing they have won big financial prizes from local telecom firms.

The gang members, using many mobile phones, had contacted several persons in the UAE and other countries in the region to congratulate them on their prizes and ask them to transfer some money for processing the prize.

One woman in a neighbouring Gulf state phoned Sharjah police to complain that she had transferred a large sum of money to a local money exchange shop after she was told by some one that she had won a big prize from Etisalat. She said that once she made the transfer, she lost contact with him.

“Through this information, Sharjah police later managed to track that call and locate the one who made it,” Emirat Alyoum daily said.

“After obtaining a warrant, they raided that place and arrested 18 Pakistanis found to be involved in these deception operations at a house which belongs to workers of a restaurant in the industrial area number 6.”

The paper quoted police as saying they found large sums of money, 35 mobile phones used by the gang members to hunt victims as well as many SIM cards. They said the 18 had been on a visit visa arranged by a compatriot in Pakistan, who also supplied their mobile handsets and housing.

Follow Emirates 24|7 on Google News.