Times of Oman
OMAN
‘Jinn' trick lands Tanzanian money multiplier in jail
RAHIMA AL BALUSHI
Wednesday, May 26, 2010 7:04:55 AM Oman Time
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MUSCAT: A Tanzanian national who allegedly cheated residents by selling them boxes with "magical powers to multiply currency notes" has been arrested here, sources in the Royal Oman Police (ROP) said yesterday.
According to sources, the accused would present people the public with a box and ask them to deposit some money in it before calling a ‘jinn' (supernatural being). He would then ask the person to buy another box with ‘magical properties' - at a huge sum - on the claim that the money deposited with the accused would increase in the box, ROP sources said.
Police said the accused had cheated several people before he was picked up by sleuths from the Department for Criminal Inquiries and Investigations and a probe team from Seeb police station.
Incidentally, the Department for Criminal Inquiries and Investigations has recorded 189 cases of fraud during the first quarter of this year, an increase of 57 cases as compared to the same period last year
ROP says people cheated by false claims made through email and phone that they have won huge sums in sundry contests form a majority of the fraud cases.
In such cases, the victims are usually asked to transfer some money to a foreign or domestic account - a mandatory process needed to complete the transfer the winning amount.
Once the money is transfered to the accused's account, all communications are cut.
The ROP has advised citizens and residents to avoid such mails and calls.