Two arrested for handphone fraud

JAKARTA (JP): Police have arrested two West Jakarta men for illegally copying handphone cards causing a loss of Rp 1 billion (US$416,666) to the telephone operator and several customers.

Chief of the City Police Detectives Col. Paimin Aboeamr said Wednesday the police arrested Ho Ming Roy and Hendra at their homes on Sunday.

"Roy and Hendra, who are phone card distributors, were arrested following a report from the privately-run telephone cellular operator PT Satelindo," Paimin said.

Satelindo's customer care manager Eddy Thoyib told the police that his company had received complaints from eight customers who said their monthly telephone bills had increased unreasonably.

Thoyib said he realized something was wrong and reported it to the police.

Not long after that the police arrested the two men, Paimin said.

Paimin said the two men had copied the eight customers' cards and sold them. "The suspects copied the cards and used the eight customers' account numbers."

He said the illegal cards were sold for Rp 300,000 each to people at discotheques.

"Roy and Hendra suggested the buyers dump the cards after two months, to make it difficult to trace," he said. (04/jun)