New mobile phone scam in UAE: 'Obscene voices' steal call credit from victims

January 21, 2013

cell

Dubai, Jan 21: After mobile phone texts lying to victims that they have won large cash prizes, a new phone scam appears to have just surfaced in the UAE.

Several victims say they receive brief calls and when they call back, they hear obscene voices before discovering that part of their call credit has gone.

While Dubai police say they are working to track the source of these calls, theTelecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) seems to be not bothered by such scams, saying its functions are confined to regulating the sector.

“The other day, I received a call from a number which looks like those provided by etisalat and du, when I wanted to answer, it went off but I called back and I heard incomprehensible male and female voices, which I then realised were obscene,” Hassan Saeed, an Emirati, said, quoted by the Arabic language daily Emarat Alyoum.

“At first, I thought that the other side called the wrong number but when I called they did not hang up and kept the line open. When I hang up later, I found that I lost more than Dh20 from my call credit in less than a minute.”

Another victim said he was jolted out of bed by a late night call, adding that when he called back he heard what he described as “sexy voices.”

“I ended the call and looked at the calling number, which appeared to be a local one but is different only in one number,” Khaled Suleiman said.

The paper quoted Lutfi Hussein, a legal adviser in Dubai, as saying he was also awaken by a late night call from what looked like as an international number.

“I still keep this number. The call lasted for seconds but it was repeated again and again without giving me a change to answer. When they ended the call, I rang them back and heard obscene female voices on the other side. I went mad and started screaming at them so they will answer but there was no reply. When I checked my call credit later, I discovered that all of it has gone.”

Another one said he had received a text on his mobile asking him to call that number if he wishes to “chat and have a good time.”

“Some of my friends received the same text and other received calls. Those who called back found that a large part of their call credit has gone,” Ali Mahmoud said.

Quoted by the paper, Major Salim bin Salmin, Acting Director of the Electronic Crime Department in Dubai, said the department is working on tracking the source of those calls but added that police had not received reports on such scams.

“We only learned that such scam cases did happen. So we now in touch with RTA to discuss a mechanism to identify the source of these calls and seize those gangs.”

According to TRA, such cases involve two ways to drain call credits including using the victim to send money.

“The other way is that incoming calls could be costly. When the victim calls that number back, the reverse call depletes the credit,” RTA said in a statement.

“Our role in the UAE is confined to enacting laws and ensuring all telecom companies follow such laws and coordinate with TRA in this respect.”

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News Network
November 15,2024

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Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has killed or captured 69 terrorists linked to the Israeli spy agency Mossad during a major counterterrorism drill in the country's southeast, its spokesman says.  

General Ahmad Shafaei, the spokesman for the “Martyrs of Security” drill, said Friday that a total of 23 terrorists have been killed and another 46 arrested in various clean-up operations ever since the IRGC Ground Force launched it in the Sistan and Baluchestan province on November 1.

Seven terrorists have also turned themselves in during the period.

“The undeniable fact about terrorists is that they rely on arrogant powers, particularly the intelligence service of the wicked and vicious Zionist regime," Shafaei said.

“Unfortunately, weapons and munitions at terrorists’ disposal are among the most sophisticated ones in the world. This accounts for their heavy dependence.” 

The official stated that several members of the disbanded terror teams were non-Iranian nationals, who had been hired by foreign intelligence agencies to carry out acts of sabotage and terror inside Iran.

In a most recent operation, six terrorists were arrested and four others were eliminated, three of whom were non-Iranians, he added. 

On October 26, ten members of Iran's law enforcement forces were killed in a terrorist attack in the Gohar Kuh district of Taftan in the Sistan and Baluchestan province.

The so-called Jaish al-Adl terrorist group claimed responsibility for the assault, which was one of the deadliest in the province in recent months.

The group has carried out numerous terrorist attacks in Iran, primarily in Sistan and Baluchestan.

Its tactics include the abduction of border guards as well as targeting civilians and police stations within the province to incite chaos and disorder.

In January, Iran launched a military operation during which the headquarters of the Pakistan-based terrorist group was targeted in missile strikes, destroying its infrastructure.

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News Network
November 27,2024

gaza.jpg

Gaza health authorities say Israel’s military has "erased” over 1,400 Palestinian families in the besieged territory over the past year.

The Health Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday that the Israeli regime "completely erased about 1,410 families, numbering 5,444 people, from the civil registry during the same period.”

It said that there were 3,463 families with only one survivor, while 2,287 families had more than one survivor.

In northern Gaza, Israel’s warplanes have continued dropping bombs over Palestinian families, Palestinian news agency Wafa reported.

It said one airstrike hit a family home in Jabalia, causing numerous casualties on Tuesday.

According to Gaza's civil defense agency, at least seven people were killed and several others wounded in the attack.

Another person was killed in a strike on a house in nearby Beit Lahia, a town in northern Gaza, which has been declared “a disaster area" by the municipality due to "the Israeli war of extermination and siege, and it has no food, water, hospitals, doctors, services, or communications."

The health ministry said, “Israeli forces killed 14 people and injured 108 others in three massacres of families in the last 24 hours.”

“Many people are still trapped under the rubble and on the roads as rescuers are unable to reach them.”

International organizations and leaders believe that Israel’s genocidal war, now in its second year, is a deliberate attempt to destroy the population of Gaza.

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News Network
November 29,2024

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The Israeli military has conducted fresh attacks on Lebanon in violation of a ceasefire agreement with the Hezbollah resistance movement and ramped up its deadly airstrikes on the Gaza Strip.

In a statement posted Thursday on X, the Lebanese army said Israeli occupation forces several times violated the truce deal just after it went into effect, and the following day.

"These breaches included aerial violations and attacks on Lebanese territory using various weapons," it added.

The Israeli military confirmed its Thursday aerial assault on southern Lebanon, adding that its forces had also opened fire towards the people who were driving to their homes in the area.

Earlier, Lebanese media reported that at least two people were wounded after Israeli tank fire hit five towns and some agricultural fields in the country's south.

"The Israeli enemy is attacking those returning to the border villages," Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah said. "There are violations today by Israel, even in this form."

Israel was forced to accept a ceasefire with Hezbollah after suffering heavy losses following more than 14 months of fighting and failing to achieve its goals in its aggression on Lebanon.

The truce agreement, brokered by the United States and France, came into effect before dawn on Wednesday. It will last for 60 days in the hope of reaching a permanent cessation of hostilities.

At least 3,961 people were killed and 16,520 others injured in Israeli attacks on Lebanon.

Hezbollah opened a support front for Palestinians in Gaza only a day after Israel unleashed its war against the besieged territory in October 2023, launching numerous retaliatory attacks against Israeli targets in the occupied territories. 

In a statement that followed the ceasefire, Hezbollah vowed to continue resisting Israel and monitoring the occupation army’s withdrawal from south Lebanon “with [our] hands on the trigger” in defense of Lebanon’s sovereignty.

Hezbollah further empathized that its fighters “remain fully equipped to deal with the aspirations and assaults of the Israeli enemy."

It also reaffirmed its commitment to the Palestinian cause, noting that it will continue the path of resistance with even greater determination.

Israeli strikes on Gaza kill 42

Across the Gaza Strip, at least 42 people were killed in Israeli attacks on Thursday. 

Reports said Israeli forces stepped up their bombardment of Gaza's central areas and tanks pushed deeper into the Palestinian territory’s north and south.

Since October 2023, the Tel Aviv regime has so far killed at least 44,330 Palestinians and injured 104,933 others in its brutal Gaza onslaught.

The head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) said at least 70 percent of those killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza were women and children.

Philippe Lazzarini said the ongoing Israeli offensive in the northern edge of Gaza has uprooted 130,000 people over the past seven weeks.

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