Two arrested for handphone fraud

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)