Police arrest two for mobile phone fraud
JAKARTA (JP): Police have arrested two men for illegally allegedly copying 369 mobile phone numbers under the Advanced Mobile Phone Service (AMPS) system and selling them on at very low prices.
Police said yesterday the two, identified as Kapandi alias Tongky and Ricky Opentri, were arrested in an operation early last week at Taman Puring flea market in South Jakarta.
The two accrued more than Rp 18.4 million (US$6,150) in fees from customers interested in the illegal mobile phone numbers, a police officer who asked not to be named said.
"Kapandi set a fee of Rp 50,000 for each mobile phone number he copied by using equipment to tap the AMPS signal and reprogramming it on his customer's mobile phone," he said.
The fraud caused huge financial losses for the owners of the authorized mobile phone numbers as they were responsible for the payments for calls made by people with the fake numbers.
The officer said Ricky, who was in charge of finding the customers, also charged a fee.
"The two allegedly began copying the AMPS mobile phone numbers in 1993," he said, adding that they probably targeted people who were prepared to do anything to pay lower mobile phone bills.
Detectives are still looking for Kapandi and Ricky's accomplices and registering all the fake numbers.
They are also asking for input from expert witnesses, including representatives of AMPS mobile phone operator company PT Komselindo.
Mobile phone fraud is not easy to detect if victims do not report suspiciously high bills. Most mobile phone customers do not check their phone bills in detail.
Two other men were arrested in March for a mobile phone fraud which caused losses of around Rp 1 billion to a Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) telephone operator and many customers.
They illegally copied people's GSM mobile phone cards and sold them to others for Rp 300,000 each.
Kapandi, Ricky and the people ordering the illegal numbers had violated Article 362 and 372 of the Criminal Code on stealing and counterfeiting, the officer said.
If found guilty, they face a maximum of five years imprisonment or a Rp 60 fine. (cst)