[size=85:2awe9jrj]Sofia echo 15 ~July 2010

Bulgarian police declares war on phone fraud mafia

At least 15 people have been arrested during a police operation which targeted a phone fraud organised crime group in the northern Bulgarian town of Gorna Oryahovitsa early on July 15 2010, Bulgarian media reported.

The police targeted the group that had specialised in phone frauds, "
an illegal and ever growing enterprise in the town and in the Roma borough in particular,"
news agency Focus reported.

According to the report, the police raided several houses and confiscated a large amount of SIM cards, cell phones, vouchers and other kit.

The operation codenamed "
Telephone Operators"
was conducted overnight and into the morning of July 15, part of a larger operation which was launched in mid-June.

Subsequent reports said that 41 homes were searched and 18 people were arrested. The police raid, which has employed a total of 190 officers is still ongoing. .All arrested are currently being interrogated.

Phone fraud is a widely spread phenomenon in the country. Crime organisations in the country have found ways to beat the system introduced at the beginning of 2010 requiring users to register pre-paid mobile phone SIM cards.

The registration requirement was introduced to enable authorities to track perpetrators of serious crimes. But organised crime groups, reportedly, have already found ways of beating the system by stealing personal data of unsuspecting users and impersonating them.

Bulgarian media reported how in April 2010, radio host Borislav Borissov found out that he was the "
proud owner"
of about 200 different SIM cards, all registered in his name and personal identification number.

"
It transpired that I own about 200 or more different phone numbers, for the moment I don't actually know the precise number,"
he told private channel bTV at the time.

He discovered the scam on April 13 when he was sent documentation from a mobile phone company that he previously had not done business with, showing that a phone registered in his name had been used to make 1300 leva worth of calls - in just 70 minutes. The phone company, having realised that they were conned, cancelled Borissov's cards.