Mobile phone salesmen pose threat to women customers

Several Saudi citizens have warned against the potential threat posed by foreign workers who dominate the Kingdom’s mobile phone and computer shops. Some of these workers are involved in cyber crimes and blackmail women customers. Stealing accessories of valuable mobile handsets as well as blackmailing young women is a thriving business, the citizens noted while urging the authorities to have a close vigil of the mobile phone market across the Kingdom, according to a report in Al-Riyadh Arabic daily. Abu Abdul Aziz, owner of a mobile shop in Dammam, said that this is a grave problem prevailing in the mobile phone market. “Some customers sell their mobile phones after using them for a few months. Those who run the shops often change accessories of the handsets and replace them with duplicates. Then, they resell them to citizens after convincing them that they are new models,” he said while noting that salesmen earn at least 40 percent profit in such transactions. According to Abu Abdul Aziz, foreign workers sell secondhand mobile phones for only SR200 less than the original price. “Some of them replace the memory card and copy all the data and pictures from the used mobile phones sold by women customers to their personal computers. They also manage to collect personal details of the young women so as to blackmail them later,” he said. Abu Abdul Aziz urged the authorities to closely monitor the mobile phone market and take stringent penal action against those involved in cyber crimes. He also called for customers who sell their handsets to get an invoice from the salesman with his name and other particulars written on it. Abu Abdul Aziz noted that about 90 percent of salesmen and other workers at mobile phone shops in the eastern region cities of Dammam and Al-Khobar were foreigners, mainly from East Asia. “The breathtaking advancement in the technological field has contributed substantially to an increase in cyber crimes. The latest technology enables the user to locate the mobile handsets within its coverage area. Some of these salesmen try to contact women customers and to collect some vital information,” he said. Rakan Saad Al-Qurashi, a Saudi young man working at a mobile shop, told the newspaper that cyber crimes, especially blackmailing of young women, was a major problem facing the contemporary Saudi society. “Blackmailing has become a powerful weapon for some weak-minded people. Young women approach the mobile shops either to buy used handsets, to replace them, or to change some accessories. They are unaware that some salesmen might be virtually wolves waiting to catch their preys,” he said. Al-Qurashi warned against selling family phones to any mobile shop, as it involves “potential dangers for young women customers and their families,” he said. Muhammad Al-Rafie, salesman at a mobile shop, said that some East Asian workers were engaged in buying used mobiles and replacing their accessories with duplicates to sell them as new ones. He urged authorities to take action against those involved in such acts of commercial fraud. Commenting on the issue, prominent lawyer and legal consultant Dr. Badar Bosais said there were no specific provisions in the penal law to punish those involved in lesser cyber crimes. “It is up to the judge to reach a conclusion on the nature of the crime and the type of punishment to be awarded to those involved in such crimes. The authorities should enact stringent provisions of law against people involved in various forms of cyber crimes, especially those linked with blackmailing young women,” he said while urging young women to take utmost caution not to fall prey to the traps of unscrupulous guys. Bosais underlined the need for overall monitoring and close surveillance of the market to prevent both commercial fraud and cyber crimes. He drew attention to the introduction of a new mechanism to prevent cyber crimes through mobiles phones by the Ministry of Interior earlier. The ministry issued a set of rules and regulations that are to be strictly adhered to by mobile phone shops. It also directed the Ministry of Commerce to come forward with proposals in this regard. According to the ministry regulations, each customer should not buy any mobile handsets without an invoice having all the necessary particulars of the buyer.  Bosais underlined the need for carrying out comprehensive studies by the expert panels and colleges of communications to prevent cyber crimes in addition to launch a massive awareness campaign among the public. On his part, Saad Al-Muhammad, another citizen, proposed that any used family mobile handset should neither be sold nor handed over to anybody outside the family circle. “All the data in the memory card of the phone must be deleted before disposing the handset,” he said while urging the authorities to introduce stringent provisions in the cyber law to punish the violators and criminals. He also called for intensifying inspections of mobile shops by the concerned squads of officials to prevent such crimes.