Three arrested for allegedly offering cheap illegal phone calls in Sharjah

Sharjah: Police Sunday arrested three Asian men who allegedly turned their home into an illegal public telephone booth and operated without a licence from the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA).

An official from the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) at Sharjah Police said the three suspects, of Pakistani and Bangladeshi nationalities, offered international calls for as low as Dh1 per five minutes via the internet.

"The suspects advertised their services, which allowed residents to make international calls at a cheaper price than is available on the market," explained a police official from the CID's Technology Crimes Department.

The suspects offered the low-rate calls from their homes in Al Nabaa and Nasseriya areas in Sharjah.

"We carry out year-long campaigns against such illegal activities and have raided a number of bachelor accommodations and auto-workshops that were used as illegal calling dens,' the official said, adding that 150 people were arrested last year for illegally distributing phone cards.

Connected to server

After receiving a tip-off, police verified the information and raided the homes and found queues of people waiting for their turn to make illegal calls through a special computer programme connected to a server. The interior of the house was divided and partitioned, each area of which was connected to the server.

The case has been referred to Sharjah Public Prosecution.

There were 37 cases recorded in 2011 where suspects stole phone lines to make international calls.

The suspects were arrested and confessed that they carried out the activities without a permit in order to make a living.