JEDDAH: The move by the government to fingerprint all mobile phone subscribers will reduce crimes such as harassment, blackmailing, kidnappings and competition scams, say citizens and expatriates.
Abdul Muqsit said there was now likely to be fewer crimes involving criminals duping people to send them money by claiming they have won cash in a competition. There is also less likely to be people being involved in kidnapping, extortion and threats, he said.
Abu Faisal said men are now unlikely to call women to flirt or harass them because the government would immediately know from which telephone number the call has been made.
Retired Maj. Gen. Saleh Al-Zahrani said that security agencies worldwide are facing a battle to tackle the rising number of crimes using technology. Local crime-fighting bodies were upgrading their systems to deal with these crimes, even though it is much less than in other countries, he said.
The extended fingerprint registration period will end on June 4 for prepaid phone users and on July 28 for post-paid consumers, the Communications and Information Technology Commission announced recently.
Abdul Muqsit said there was now likely to be fewer crimes involving criminals duping people to send them money by claiming they have won cash in a competition. There is also less likely to be people being involved in kidnapping, extortion and threats, he said.
Abu Faisal said men are now unlikely to call women to flirt or harass them because the government would immediately know from which telephone number the call has been made.
Retired Maj. Gen. Saleh Al-Zahrani said that security agencies worldwide are facing a battle to tackle the rising number of crimes using technology. Local crime-fighting bodies were upgrading their systems to deal with these crimes, even though it is much less than in other countries, he said.
The extended fingerprint registration period will end on June 4 for prepaid phone users and on July 28 for post-paid consumers, the Communications and Information Technology Commission announced recently.
