iPhone fraud ring smashed: Fake tourists jailed, deported

Daily Tribune

a day ago

Four Arab nationals — two brothers and their two sisters — have been sentenced to three years in prison and ordered to be permanently deported from Bahrain for orchestrating a delivery scam while posing as tourists.
The Criminal Court found that the group entered the country under the guise of tourism but had in fact planned a coordinated operation to fraudulently obtain high-value electronics, including the latest iPhone models.According to the case file, one member of the group would place an order through a delivery app, another would receive the item, and a third would cancel the order while it was still en route — triggering an automatic refund from the platform. In the confusion that followed, the ordered item would be stolen.
The group used fake delivery addresses to avoid detection and moved around in a rental car booked under one of the sisters' names. During each incident, they staged an argument to distract the delivery driver and make off with the goods.
Their plan unravelled when they attempted to collect another phone from a business in Manama using the same tactic. Police, acting on earlier complaints, apprehended the group and found several unopened phones in their possession. Investigators confirmed the suspects had no means to pay for the devices and linked them to similar scams carried out across the city. Though the delivery company later reached a private settlement with the group, the court rejected any withdrawal of the complaint, stating that such agreements have no bearing on criminal liability.
In its ruling, the court said the four had deliberately exploited Bahrain's hospitality, entered with the intent to commit theft, and caused harm to businesses. It stressed that a strong deterrent was necessary in light of the premeditated nature of the offences. The defendants will be deported upon completing their prison terms.