[funsec] 3 Arrested on Terrorism Charges in Mich. forbuyingprepaid cellphones

[Drsolly]

On Sat, 12 Aug 2006, Richard M. Smith wrote:

> Here's info on the 2nd set of cell phone arrests down in Ohio:
> 
> http://www.mariettatimes.com/news/story/new11_811200683259.asp
> 
> Prosecutors say they are confident the men are linked to a terrorist network

"are confident" translates to "we just know that this has to be ..."

> and filed additional felony charges Thursday relating to the buying and
> selling of specific microchips found in only a few types of cell phones.

And that's scary. Are there some types of mobile phones that contain chips 
that it's illegal to possess?  Can I be arrested in America if I'm 
carrying one of these mobiles?

> Authorities say the phones are being modified by terrorists to make
> untraceable international calls 

Well, that's certainly illegal. But they aren't being charged with that.

> and also in the production of roadside bombs.

Ditto.
 
> Authorities say Abulhassan and Houssaiky admitted to buying more than 600
> TracFones in the past month and reselling them to an individual in Dearborn,
> Mich.

Is that a well-known terrorism nexus? Is there a cell of Al Qaida that has 
offices there?
 
> "They were being paid by check for the phones they purchased. This was not
> cash under the table or some hidden thing," Baumgartel said. "These are
> college students. This is what college students do. They're more willing to
> drive around to try to make money."

And that's exactly what it sounds like to me - a perfectly legal 
buy-it-cheap, sell-it-at-a-margin deal.
 
> Richard
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Larry Seltzer [mailto:Larry at larryseltzer.com] 
> Sent: Saturday, August 12, 2006 6:31 PM
> To: Drsolly; Richard M. Smith
> Cc: funsec at linuxbox.org
> Subject: RE: [funsec] 3 Arrested on Terrorism Charges in Mich.
> forbuyingprepaid cellphones
> 
> >> If folks are buying hundreds of phones at Walmart there must be some
> sort of market for them.
> 
> Perhaps they ship them abroad to somewhere it's more expensive or
> unavailable, and they launder the purchase as well.
> 
> Larry Seltzer
> eWEEK.com Security Center Editor
> http://security.eweek.com/
> http://blog.eweek.com/blogs/larry%5Fseltzer/
> Contributing Editor, PC Magazine
> larryseltzer at ziffdavis.com 
> 
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