Modus Operandi of Stolen Phone Receivers in Bekasi: Using Aluminium Foil to Block Signals

The Head of Criminal Investigation at Kebayoran Baru Police Sector, Andre JR Simamora, stated that the receivers obtain the mobile phones by purchasing them through social media from marketplaces or via cash on delivery. The receivers sometimes contact victims and pretend to be from the company if they have difficulty unlocking the phone.

“If it can be unlocked, the phone will then be sold intact. However, if the password or iCloud cannot be accessed, they usually contact the victim by pretending to be from Apple or the relevant phone company, perhaps Samsung or others for Android,” said Andre at the Kebayoran Baru Police Sector in South Jakarta on Friday (8/4/2026).

This effort is done to obtain the victim’s email address, iCloud username, and password. Once successful, said he, the perpetrators perform a bypass or hack the iCloud to resell the phone.

“Then, for the phones that they have taken control of, they wrap them using aluminium foil,” he added.

Andre explained that the perpetrators use aluminium foil to scramble tracking signals, making it difficult for the owner to detect the phone.

“The purpose is to obscure the signal or tracking that the victim might do to find the phone again,” he clarified.

The receivers buy the phones from the theft perpetrators at cheap prices. The police have secured 225 stolen mobile phones from three suspects.

“So, for example, they buy these brand-new phones from the theft perpetrators, usually in the price range of Rp 800,000 to Rp 1.3 million,” he said.

“Then, when they sell them intact, the margin is usually larger. It depends on the condition of the phone. So, if the phone is intact, they can make a profit margin of around Rp 1 or Rp 2 million,” he continued.

The three arrested receivers are MR alias A, MAA alias A, and J. They have been designated as suspects and detained.