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http://www.armytimes.com/story.php?f=0-ARMYPAPER-1935936.php
July 17, 2006
British troops’ families get ‘nuisance calls’ from Iraq
By Karen Jowers
Times staff writer
British authorities are investigating what are being termed “nuisance calls” to families of British troops serving in Iraq —calls that are originating from inside the war-torn nation.
The June 25 edition of Britain’s The Sunday Telegraph quoted a “restricted Army document” issued to soldiers of the London Regiment, a Territorial Army unit of the British military, warning that insurgents in southern Iraq have managed to obtain home telephone numbers of British troops by using electronic intercept devices to hack into mobile phone systems.
The newspaper reported that some families have received calls with threats or verbal abuse, and that some of the callers had a poor command of English or had a Middle Eastern accent.
But Sagar Sharma, a spokesman for the U.K. Ministry of Defence, said the calls reported so far have been silent, with the callers simply hanging up after a period of time. He declined to provide any further details, including how many such calls have been reported.
U.S. Defense Department, Marine Corps and Army officials said no incidents of American military families receiving such calls have been reported.
Officials at U.S. Central Command headquarters in Florida also said no reports have been received from American military families.
Sharma described the calls to British military families as “nuisance calls” but added that they are nonetheless being taken seriously. “We are trying to find the exact nature and provenance of these calls,” he said.
Mobile phones are ubiquitous in Iraq, sold by Iraqi vendors both in street markets in the larger towns and cities and on coalition military bases. The emergence of a nascent cell phone industry is considered one of Iraq’s few economic success stories to date in the post-Saddam era.
U.S. and British troops often buy these cell phones because they are usually more convenient than using the call centers set up by contractors on coalition military bases. Sometimes, original buyers who are redeploying out of Iraq will pass the phones to other troops if they still have call time remaining on them.
Sharma said officials have not confirmed that any calls to British military families have been made by insurgents.
“The worst-case scenario — that the phone calls are being made by insurgents trying to build a picture of families back home — is the least likely,” Sharma said.
But he confirmed that the calls “are coming from Iraq,” and said British officials are investigating to determine who is making the calls, and how they are getting home phone numbers of families.
Officials are advising troops to be cautious and limit their use of mobile phones, and all troops and families are being advised to report suspicious phone calls up the chain, Sharma said.
U.S. Army spokesman Sheldon Smith said there have been no reports of such nuisance phone calls among American military families.
If a family should get such a call, Smith advised recording the originating phone number, if possible, and reporting it to their service member’s unit or to law enforcement authorities.
Smith also advised deployed troops to avoid programming personal phone numbers into cell phones purchased in Iraq.
“Some have been stolen, and you never know whose hands they may fall into,” he said.
July 17, 2006
British troops’ families get ‘nuisance calls’ from Iraq
By Karen Jowers
Times staff writer
British authorities are investigating what are being termed “nuisance calls” to families of British troops serving in Iraq —calls that are originating from inside the war-torn nation.
The June 25 edition of Britain’s The Sunday Telegraph quoted a “restricted Army document” issued to soldiers of the London Regiment, a Territorial Army unit of the British military, warning that insurgents in southern Iraq have managed to obtain home telephone numbers of British troops by using electronic intercept devices to hack into mobile phone systems.
The newspaper reported that some families have received calls with threats or verbal abuse, and that some of the callers had a poor command of English or had a Middle Eastern accent.
But Sagar Sharma, a spokesman for the U.K. Ministry of Defence, said the calls reported so far have been silent, with the callers simply hanging up after a period of time. He declined to provide any further details, including how many such calls have been reported.
U.S. Defense Department, Marine Corps and Army officials said no incidents of American military families receiving such calls have been reported.
Officials at U.S. Central Command headquarters in Florida also said no reports have been received from American military families.
Sharma described the calls to British military families as “nuisance calls” but added that they are nonetheless being taken seriously. “We are trying to find the exact nature and provenance of these calls,” he said.
Mobile phones are ubiquitous in Iraq, sold by Iraqi vendors both in street markets in the larger towns and cities and on coalition military bases. The emergence of a nascent cell phone industry is considered one of Iraq’s few economic success stories to date in the post-Saddam era.
U.S. and British troops often buy these cell phones because they are usually more convenient than using the call centers set up by contractors on coalition military bases. Sometimes, original buyers who are redeploying out of Iraq will pass the phones to other troops if they still have call time remaining on them.
Sharma said officials have not confirmed that any calls to British military families have been made by insurgents.
“The worst-case scenario — that the phone calls are being made by insurgents trying to build a picture of families back home — is the least likely,” Sharma said.
But he confirmed that the calls “are coming from Iraq,” and said British officials are investigating to determine who is making the calls, and how they are getting home phone numbers of families.
Officials are advising troops to be cautious and limit their use of mobile phones, and all troops and families are being advised to report suspicious phone calls up the chain, Sharma said.
U.S. Army spokesman Sheldon Smith said there have been no reports of such nuisance phone calls among American military families.
If a family should get such a call, Smith advised recording the originating phone number, if possible, and reporting it to their service member’s unit or to law enforcement authorities.
Smith also advised deployed troops to avoid programming personal phone numbers into cell phones purchased in Iraq.
“Some have been stolen, and you never know whose hands they may fall into,” he said.
