UAE | Crime
Two arrested for making Dh5m worth of free calls
The Chinese men managed to make Dh5,305,927 worth of calls before they were arrested this month.
- Staff Report
- Published: 00:00 October 25, 2004
Two men who made more than Dh5 million worth of free phone calls through Etisalat have been arrested by police.
Brigadier Khamis Al Mazeina, head of Dubai Police's criminal investigation unit, made the announcement in a statement.
The Chinese men managed to make Dh5,305,927 worth of calls before they were arrested this month. The police statement did not say whether the men had made all the phone calls themselves or had offered the service to others.
Brig Al Mazeina said the criminal investigation unit alongside forensic investigators traced the men after police received a complaint from Etisalat in September 2003. A team consisting of IT crime specialists was formed to look into the case.
The two men, identified as Q.J. and A.R., exploited technological gaps in the company's system.
They used a machine to tie local phone lines and a high speed ADSL phone line, police said. The system enabled them to make free international calls.
The police gathered evidence indicating the phone calls were made by a number of companies based in Deira apartments.
The two men were arrested and their apartments were searched. Police said they found the machine linking the phone lines alongside boxes of phone cards.
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