Police nab online seller of stolen phone

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Published Aug 18, 2014

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Durban - A cellphone dealer has been arrested in a police sting after a student identified his stolen phone advertised for sale on online classified website, Gumtree.

The 22-year-old university student, who wished to remain anonymous, was robbed on his driveway by two men.

He had returned to his Clare Estate home with a friend when a car stopped alongside them on Thursday, August 7. Two men got out of the car and held them up at knifepoint.

The men took his wallet, a Samsung Galaxy Zoom and his friend’s BlackBerry Bold phone. Both were pushed to the ground and told not to look at their attackers, before the men drove off.

The student opened a case of robbery at the Sydenham SAPS. Last Thursday, the student was looking at Gumtree adverts when he saw what resembled his phone for sale. The phone was priced at R3 500.

He called the number in the advert and the dealer agreed to meet him in Crescent Street, Overport.

After viewing the phone the student noticed definitive marks on it. The student typed, *#06# to view the phone’s International Mobile Station Equipment Identity number. The numbers matched the one he had written on a piece of paper, taken from the cellphone box at home. The student arranged to meet the dealer the next day to buy the phone for a discounted price of R3 300.

After consulting with the police an undercover operation was set up and the student and police met the dealer in Dr Pixley KaSeme (West) Street. Once the deal was done, police arrested the dealer

Police spokesman Captain Thulani Zwane confirmed the dealer had been arrested and charged at Sydenham SAPS.

Daily News

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