Large quantity of cellphones bought raises red flags, Lebanon police notify the FBI

originally posted by: rickymouse
Well, the cops should follow up on this and in three days, call the number of the cell phones. They should be active and hooked up to a bomb by then. It will take that long to get them all attached to the bombs.

It will take another two days to get them placed where they are going to be used, so time is of the essence here.

That's not even funny..All this crap is serious

a reply to: SPECULUM

I don't think it was intended to be funny.

a reply to: SPECULUM

This is not what I would call a bright move in today's climate no matter what the cell phones were for or why so many were purchased at the same time. Perhaps they did their Christmas shopping in one fell swoop. Seriously, I would be suspicious, too.

Say what you will about the education of small midwestern town's and their walmart worker's, but if you try buying 80 drop phones (and even more so if you're not old, rich, and white)... they are calling the cops.

fair warning.

the size of it almost makes me think Government test to see how populations react?

a reply to: Shamrock6

True, but just because someone inadvertently breaches some security protocol doesn't necessarily scream terrorist to me.

a reply to: SPECULUM

Since 9/11 the FBI has included in their fighting of terrorism to investigate large amounts of disposable cells phones and also money transfers.

After 9/11 and the Madrid train attacks in March 2004, The FBI was specifically targeting middle eastern individuals .

law enforcement officials say the phones are widely used by criminal gangs and terrorists.

It seems that Wal-Mart is the favorite place to purchase cell phones in quantities.

Remember this one from back 2006?

150 Phones in One Sale, 60 Phones in Another

The FBI is closely monitoring the potentially dangerous development, which came to light following recent large-quantity purchases in California and Texas, officials confirmed.

In one New Year's Eve transaction at a Target store in Hemet, Calif., 150 disposable tracfones were purchased. Suspicious store employees notified police, who called in the FBI, law enforcement sources said.

In an earlier incident, at a Wal-Mart store in Midland, Texas, on Dec. 18, six individuals attempted to buy about 60 of the phones until store clerks became suspicious and notified the police. A Wal-Mart spokesperson confirmed the incident.

abcnews.go.com...

Also it was the case of 1000 phone purchase,


Like you see is not a new policy the FBI has been investigating this type of transactions for a decade.

More often than not is nothing to worry about, the phones are just for resell, but still authorities had to investigate such purchases.

In April, Huachuca City Police Department officers arrested two men who had purchased 1,000 cell phones throughout Cochise County.

The arrests highlight the difficulty law enforcement officers face when trying to connect suspicious activity to illegal activity, said Huachuca City Police Chief Dennis Grey.

Grey said he hoped lawmakers would take a look at outlawing large purchases of prepaid cell phones because of their connection to crime.

"There's not too many people that need 1,000 cell phones," he said.

tucson.com...

Interestingly further investigation has exonerated most of the people that are caught doing this large buys.

Being from near the area local news is reporting this happened at three different wal-marts on Friday night and early Saturday morning. Five men bought a large number in Columbia, then a large amount in Macon, I can't remember how many people did the buying or the number of phones and this one in Lebanon. From the reports all were "foreigners".

The FBI should be investigating this, correlating data between the Walmarts in that locale and getting video. Just to get an idea of what's going on.

You're damned if you do, damned if you don't in these situations. If the men turn out to be terrorists that follow through on an attack, people will scream that no one did enough to stop them. If nothing happens and the phones were purchased for good reason, those questioning the purchases will be called racist, xenophobes etc. You can't win.

Quite frankly, the purchases should be noted, regardless of who is doing the buying.

That sherriff has a hard on for getting him some "foreigners". He is currently lowering the price of CCW because he wants everyone to protect themselves because if people in Paris had guns less people would have died. His opinion not mine. CCW Laclede County Because Lebanon is a bastion of terrible home grown terrorism /sarc. I'd be curious the types of phones. I work for a cellphone company and many times i see where they buy a ton of phones and ship them overseas.

a reply to: xistence05

Interestingly after the FBI took upon themselves to investigate large quantities of cell phones, cell phones companies were all up in arms about the possibility of them losing money because of it.

Soo, is not a bad idea to check on large phone purchases, just in case.

originally posted by: rockledr
Being from near the area local news is reporting this happened at three different wal-marts on Friday night and early Saturday morning. Five men bought a large number in Columbia, then a large amount in Macon, I can't remember how many people did the buying or the number of phones and this one in Lebanon. From the reports all were "foreigners".

More info helps. Thanks! Seems like a coordinated buy at multiple stores.

a reply to: marg6043

No I agree. I'm from the area and I personally dislike that sheriff, however I have no problem with them reporting suspicious activity to a point. I don't like that guys racist attitude though and would hope if white people did it his response should be the same.

I'm interested in the type of phone because would be able to tell what if any other countries networks it would work on if unlocked. Prepaid phones aren't known for their world roaming readiness and could help indicate if legit or nefarious.

I think if they would have been real terrorists they wouldn't have made a large purchase like that.

I think they made a mountain out of a mole hill.

Terrorists don't like to draw attention.

In this area there is a high likelihood like a previous poster said that they planned to resell them. Probably in a convenience store. We have many independently owned convenience stores ran/owned by middle eastern people. No biggie. Most are really cool. Some own multiple stores and bring over family to work them. It was probably coordinated in that they sent multiple people to buy as many as possible from multiple locations to stock up. A lot of these stores will also sell drug paraphernalia like papers, glass stems for meth and crack pipes (packaged as other things of course) which makes them an ideal "safe place" for drug dealers to buy Burner phones from because those shop owners don't report. They don't care. They are here to make money.

originally posted by: neo96
I think if they would have been real terrorists they wouldn't have made a large purchase like that.

I think they made a mountain out of a mole hill.

Terrorists don't like to draw attention.

This. It was more likely for resell or as a corporate gift. If terrorists or even drug dealers were going to do something like this they would make several small purchases over several stores rather than one large one.

originally posted by: SPECULUM

originally posted by: rickymouse
Well, the cops should follow up on this and in three days, call the number of the cell phones. They should be active and hooked up to a bomb by then. It will take that long to get them all attached to the bombs.

It will take another two days to get them placed where they are going to be used, so time is of the essence here.

That's not even funny..All this crap is serious

you are right ... this crap is serious ....

originally posted by: SPECULUM

I was talking crap on some Muslims one afternoon on the global webs and they threatened to take me out..I was hangin with my gal at Lebanon, laughing at their threats...Now i think i will be a lil more cautious on what i say while Terrorists are lurking about

your 'gal' as you put it as tho she belongs to you, may have been sooo extremely impressed by your amazing ability to mock or wind up someone from a different ethnic background to you ....
I personally have no respect for silly twats that wind up, rile, or slant others in any way, for their own entertainment ... usually by cowards that believe they cant be harmed by repercussions, cos theyre in a crowd, or at the otehr end of a keyboard or whatever ....

and then you come on here bragging about it .. while angrily telling another not to be semi humerous, cos this is serious ... GROW UP wee boy !!!

If the phones, or any other products, are cheaper than in their home country, then it makes sense to purchase bulk, send them back home and make a profit. After all, after unlocking, the phones are not tied to a specific carrier and can be used anywhere that uses the same global standard technology.

As for the purchase time, around 4AM, not everyone lives a 9 - 5 existence, hence why the stores tend to be open 24x7 in the first place.

Just throwing that out there as another possible scenario.

Didn't Bono handout cell phones to refugees? Was He also investigated?

I'm leaning towards these "foreigners" (I wonder which Native American Tribe the labeler is from?) made the purchase for re-selling in the mini-markets that "all these damn foreigners own" "THEY" already got all the oil...

What a crock.

Did they pay cash? If not their name is on a credit card and that is what is called an "investigative lead" but what WON'T be publicized is that "Yes" these guys own 5 gas station/mini-marts and they bought to re-sell so the only news is suspicious purchases.

originally posted by: Segenam

originally posted by: SPECULUM

originally posted by: rickymouse
Well, the cops should follow up on this and in three days, call the number of the cell phones. They should be active and hooked up to a bomb by then. It will take that long to get them all attached to the bombs.

It will take another two days to get them placed where they are going to be used, so time is of the essence here.

That's not even funny..All this crap is serious

you are right ... this crap is serious ....

originally posted by: SPECULUM

I was talking crap on some Muslims one afternoon on the global webs and they threatened to take me out..I was hangin with my gal at Lebanon, laughing at their threats...Now i think i will be a lil more cautious on what i say while Terrorists are lurking about

your 'gal' as you put it as tho she belongs to you, may have been sooo extremely impressed by your amazing ability to mock or wind up someone from a different ethnic background to you ....
I personally have no respect for silly twats that wind up, rile, or slant others in any way, for their own entertainment ... usually by cowards that believe they cant be harmed by repercussions, cos theyre in a crowd, or at the otehr end of a keyboard or whatever ....

and then you come on here bragging about it .. while angrily telling another not to be semi humerous, cos this is serious ... GROW UP

wee boy !!!

They were running their mouths and i pushed some buttons, then the threats came out.. Usual Muslim Bull# Whatever

a reply to: SPECULUM


Kind of funny how it was only AFTER the purchase that this seemed hinky. I wonder why Chinama...uh...er.... Walmart™ waited until after finishing the sale to lodge any complaint?