Posted on 08/16/2006 7:43:31 PM PDT by Samwise
Hartford City, IN — The Indiana Homeland Security department was notified about the cell phone purchases. Two men have been questioned in Hartford City, Indiana.
22-year-old Bilal Muhamed Mustafa and 29-year old Sultan Allah Muhammond came to the Alco discount store looking to buy a particular model Nokia Trac phone in bulk. Terrorism experts say Tracphones can't be traced and are known to be used by terrorists as detenators for bombs.
"Oh I was suspicious," said Alco Store Manager, Kenny Mazelin. " They always said after 9/11 be vigilant with cell phones sales and that we should contact somebody." That's just what store manager Kenny Mazelin did. The men drove a grey Nissan Altima rental down from Minnesota and just recently got Minnesota id's.
"We were told Minnesota cops questioned one of their brothers for the same type of business transaction regarding cell phones," said Detective Eric Hawk, Hartford City Police. Mustafa told police he buys the cell phones and puts a special chip in them that can make them work as prepaid on any cell network. He said he then sells the phones at a small profit.
The two men weren't interested in buying the minutes it takes to activate the phones only the phones themselves at Alco. They wanted as many as they could get and had cash to pay for them. "They told us they'd buy forty if we had 'em," said manager Mazelin."They came in three times, police got here in time to question them the third time."
The men evaded officers questions and didn't want their pictures taken. It's not illegal to buy cell phones in bulk. Neither men were arrested or held for further questioning. Fox 59 reached Bilal Muhamed Mustafa on a cell number he gave police. He hung up. Police say the case remains open.
" "They told us they'd buy forty if we had 'em "
Nothing suspicious here........................................................................................................................................................................................ R O T F L M A O
Good grief..it's an epidemic.
Too many what-ifs...
Must have something big planned.
This doesn't make any sense at all to me. I found 17 of the $20 models at the local Wal-Mart and a number of the others. Ebay has a number for less. What in the name of tarnation is going on here anyway?
I've always thought it's a good idea to not purchase suspicious cell phones.
You imply that these people make sense. They are moonbats, so who knows why they need so many. They probably have way more people than we think anyway. Either that, or Mustafa's "friends and family" plan needs to be bigger.
This is now an epidemic. Goodness gracious................
Really. I guess there would be too much tracking if a middle easterner just bought them wholesale "for my storefront".
This happened at the end of July, before we saw such a trend of these sales....
~~
http://www.masslive.com/metrowest/republican/index.ssf?/base/news-5/1155730840298480.xml&coll=1
'Customs takes over cell phone case
Wednesday, August 16, 2006
By DAVID REID
dreid@repub.com
HOLYOKE - A 27-year-old California man detained by city police last month after he bought 300 cellular phones from an electronics store near the mall is facing a federal deportation hearing next month.
Mahmoud H. Elroumi, of Beverly Hills, was picked up July 23 by city detectives inside the COMPUSA store at Holyoke Crossing adjacent to the Holyoke Mall at Ingleside after being alerted by a store clerk, police said. Elroumi could not be reached for comment.
No criminal charges were filed locally against Elroumi, but Police Chief Anthony R. Scott said detectives held the California man as a suspicious person, and contacted the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency, which took him into custody. "
......
My SWAGs: saturate the cell towers in the vicinity of whatever "event" they are planning so no one can report what is going on...or the terrorist coordinators carry around carry around a 10-20 cards and use a different one for each call to make it harder for the NSA snoopers...or they really are going to build 1000s of IEDs to plant around the US...or they are going to strike it rich a few bucks at a time, reselling a cheap retail product out of its package, minus lawyer fees for all the legal attention they have attracted
If the terrorist cells are gearing up, there are several ways they could play this...
Untraceable phone communication (disposable phone to disposable phone).
A D-Day "mother of all battles" set of terrorist bombings in one day.
A long series of "lone nut" bombings.
At any rate, you can bet that such phones would become much more scarce in America after a domestic terrorist bombing campaign began. They could very well be stockpiling now for when that day (which may never) comes.
: )
Thank the Lord these terrorists are so hot damn dumb : )
Amazing number of illegal immigrants in these cases too.
2 men from the Republic of Georgia were stopped in Pennsylvania (with Michigan driver's licenses, $4.2k, 40 phones, an empty van, and a laptop with GPS tracking software).
Remember those two Arab men who boarded the school bus in Florida? School starts in a few weeks. They could be planning on seizing a whole lot of school buses full of children. After all, bin Laden said his next move would strike the heart of America's homes.
I was down at a local Wal-Mart and they had about 40 of these Tracfones on the rack. The manager of the department said Homeland Security told them to limit sales to two to a person and they couldn't come in later for more. Said they were looking for a particular model. And based on this it has something to do with "unlocking" these phones so they can be used on multiple networks. I'm not an expert on this at all. My wife has a regular cellphone with a contract and I have a Tracfone myself for emergency use. It is a terrific deal at $10 a month.
But I still don't get all of these purchases unless they mean to set off thousands of explosions all over the country at the same time using these cell phones. They are used in IED's. So this would be a real possibility. I'd avoid large crowds for the next few weeks. My question is who are these phones being sold to? Who is "Mr. X?" How does he pay more than they can be purchased over the counter. That's the part I don't get.
They are on the family, friends and terrorists plan. Can you explode me now.
ME/Mooslim sounding names...same gender and age range of terrorists...very odd purchase of devices that have been used in terrorist attacks...BUT, still not good enough to detain them for our PC sensibilities...how much longer will we suspend common sense?
OK, I'll buy some such as a possibility but you have me chuckling at the concept of a turbaned and bearded guy bent over a table full of cell phones, madly dialing them one by one by one . . .
Is that stealing time from the cell networks? or how does the network get their money?
If the terrorist cells are gearing up, there are several ways they could play this...
Untraceable phone communication (disposable phone to disposable phone).
A D-Day "mother of all battles" set of terrorist bombings in one day.
A long series of "lone nut" bombings.
At any rate, you can bet that such phones would become much more scarce in America after a domestic terrorist bombing campaign began. They could very well be stockpiling now for when that day (which may never) comes.
It means (as best as I can understand it) that a cellphone can be used in any network. If you go to a contract cell phone you will find only certain phones available. This would allow presumably other phones to be used in the network of your choice. They are called "unlocked" cell phones. Do a google and you can read about it. I'm not altogether familiar with it myself but they can be purchased on ebay as well. I just found an ebay listing ending with eight available at $320 each. So there must be a demand for them.
Anyone notice a pattern as to WHO Is buying these cell phones?
Dare I say it?
I don't think they have 1000s of people here, willing to die for their cause. If they plan a mass bombing they will have to plant devices.
They might be shipping them overseas for use in Iraq...
I think this may explain these "unlocked" cell phones. And I might add that a relative just bought a prepaid cell phone and my caller ID doesn't identify him as it does his home land line or his regular cell phone that his wife carries. This leads me to believe that terrorists would have a real advantage in getting unlocked prepaid phones as they couldn't be traced to the user. I think. And they could simply discard the phone after using it. This would be doubly safe if they were up to no good.
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-are-unlocked-cell-phones.htm
Hey! I have an idea: let's racially profile ALL of the ME males presently here in the USA who have as one of their many names "Mohammud" and its manifold spellings, round them up, investigate them, and see what we come up with.
That would surely be much more efficient than delaying non-ME airline travellers for 3+ hours in the airports of the USA who would never think of being followers of the prophet of death, destruction, and pederasty.
This whole thing makes me sick. AMERIKA ERWACHT! The Islamonazis are here and their defenders call themselves liberals and democrats!
Interesting. So if I understand it right, they aren't stealing air time. It looks like they still buy the Sim card to get the minutes, but the phone will work with Sim cards from any network, making it more versatile.
So there could be a legitimate business model, unlocking the cell phones and selling them for more than they were originally worth.
But then why are the middle easterners all over this?
Muslims and middle easterners should have a 7 day waiting period to buy a cell phone.
Isn't that very close to Chechnya? and Turkey? and Armenia? and other muslim countries? hmmmm
Obviously these people want to stay below the radar. Ebay requires you have an account to pay and a shipping address.
Interesting that they were all middle eastern types. Wonder if the police made a determination if any were illegal aliens....or is that too much to ask?
Doesn't say if they were MEs or not, either. (But we know they were.)
We keep hearing about all these guys buying up these phones to sell for a profit. I would like to know where/how they are intending on selling them. Who's buying them? I'm sure that's come up in the questioning.
They ought to be made to wait in their jihadistans..
Thanks for the info...
here is how they are unlocking them
http://www.howardforums.com/archive/topic/756978-1.html
Danny see post 45
Minnesota, Minnesota, what does this spark in my little grey cells?
Ah, yes, one of those missing Egyptian foreign exchange students was arrested the other day in Minneapolis.
Sounds like a little bit of congregatin' going on in the Land of 10,000 Sheiks.....er, I mean Lakes.
Leni
Here some more info...
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20060217-6205.html
Prepaid cell phone provider tries DMCA smackdown
2/17/2006 12:31:05 PM, by Eric Bangeman
Almost every cellular provider sells its phones at a deep discount when you agree to sign up for service—either on a contract or prepaid. In the case of TracFone, they sell locked Nokia handsets below cost and then make their money by selling prepaid minutes. So far, so good. In the fine tradition of American entrepreneurialism, Miami-based Sol Wireless Group saw a business opportunity and began buying phones from TracFone, unlocking them so they can be used on any network, and then reselling them at a tidy profit.
When TracFone discovered that its Nokia 1100 and 2600 phones were being resold, they hired a private investigator to, well, investigate. After negotiating the purchase of a handful of phones, a PI went to the Sol Wireless store:
~SNIP~
It's been mentioned already but yes, you can take those cheap ass prepaid phones and unlock them to make them usable on amy GSM network provider. That makes them worth a lot more, especially in other countries.
Either the the authorities know more than we do or they're retarded or they just want more terrorism funding for their department.
As far as I know, the charges have been dropped because they have nothing on these men.
Here is my question... If there is some kind of profit scheme in this why are we not seeing Asians buying up cell phones like this? The asian community is technology and profit savvy. I would ask them where they got the cash? Why are all of them paying in cash ( non traceable) and if so are they filing taxes on this nice little profit? Please provide a list of these customers. Where do you advertise these? Can we find evidence of this money making business such as ( customers, demographics, etc).
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/MI_PHONES_TERROR_CHARGES_MIOL-?SITE=MIDTN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Aug 16, 6:52 PM EDT
Texas men arraigned on federal charges in cell phone case
~SNIP~
The federal complaint contains no mention of terrorism. It alleges that the three men defrauded consumers, TracFone Wireless Inc. and Nokia Corp.
Miami, Fla.-based TracFone sells prepaid cellular phones with a limited number of minutes at subsidized prices. It makes money when buyers of those phones purchase additional minutes from the company.
The government alleges the men are part of a scheme to buy up phones that Nokia makes for TracFone and then remove TracFone's proprietary software, making it possible to use the handsets with any cellular provider.
By altering the phones, they're no longer genuine Nokia products even though they bear Nokia's trademark, the government says.
The complaint said TracFone estimates that more than 800,000 of its telephones have been "fraudulently converted."
People involved in the trade of so-called "unlocked" cell phones maintain that it is legal.
Consumer advocates say locking the phones in the first place is illegal, and there haven't been any court rulings about the legality of removing the phones' software.
The money laundering charge stems from the government's contention that the men used proceeds from their trade in cell phones to buy more cell phones.
Ayad said all the information in the federal complaint came from the defendants' own statements to the FBI in hours of interviews before they were charged in Tuscola County, about 80 miles north of Detroit.
~SNIP~
PING to my posts in this thread
Basically they are buying certain cellphones so that they can be unlocked and then used on any cell network.
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