'Interior' Warns: 'Device and Phone Cloning' is a Crime Punishable by Law

The Ministry of Interior has warned citizens and residents against dealing with individuals, shops, and electronic accounts that promote “device and phone cashing-out” services, or provide immediate cash liquidity through installment contracts for phones and deferred payment services offered by telecommunications companies. The ministry emphasized that these practices constitute criminal offenses punishable by law.

The ministry clarified that “cashing-out” operations represent a clear departure from legal and regulatory frameworks. Promoters lure customers by offering immediate cash payments in exchange for purchasing devices and then selling them to intermediaries at significantly reduced prices, which can be up to 40 percent below market value.

It added that these practices involve inducing customers to sign documents with inflated values exceeding the original amount received, thereby exposing them to legal violations and judicial consequences.

The ministry stressed the necessity of exercising caution and refraining from dealing with promoters of such services to avoid criminal liability and falling victim to egregious usury, fraud, and deception, or being exploited in money laundering operations.

It reaffirmed its continued cooperation with regulatory authorities in the Ministry of Commerce and the Public Authority for Communications and Information Technology to track down non-compliant accounts and outlets, apprehend those involved, revoke and cancel commercial licenses, administratively close shops, and refer those implicated to the competent authorities to take deterrent legal measures against them.