Sharjah: A man claiming to be from a leading telecom company called Sharjah Police and said: “Congratulations… you have won a grand prize of Dh200,000.”

Now he’s in police custody.

The Asian suspect used to randomly call people in attempt to con them, and did not realise that the mobile number he called belonged to the Sharjah Police Control Room, said Lieutenant-Colonel Jasem Bin Hada, head of the Police Operations Room.

The call was received by an officer on the evening shift.

“The caller told him that he had won Dh200,000 and asked him to transfer money in order to receive the grand prize,” he said. The officer played along till the end of the call. Soon after, the CID was alerted and the man was arrested.

The Police raided his flat and caught him while he was making a phone call to another victim, Colonel Ebrahim Al Ajel, director of the Criminal and Investigation Department of Sharjah Police, told Gulf News on Monday.

The suspect admitted calling people and asking them to transfer phone credit in return for a grand prize. The phone credit was then sold to other people.

A large number of mobile phones and SIM cards as well as printed phrases in English and Arabic were found in the apartment of the suspect.

The officer urged people to report any suspicious acts or crimes on 999 or 06-5632222 or the toll-free number Najeed 800 151 or via SMS on 7999 or www.shjpolice.gov.ae/najeed.