The department of Public Relations at the ISF General Directorate announced that investigations were carried out by the Cyber Crime and Intellectual Property Rights Bureau Unit based on more than 70 complaints filed by citizens regarding stolen and hacked electronic accounts (e-mail and Facebook among others). The hackers blackmail the account owners and steal their identity to get large sums of money.         

In the wake of these investigations, the department of Public Relations carried out a monitoring operation and was able to locate a site used by hackers. On 05/01/2012,the ISF carried out a raid on the location and the following people were arrested:       

-N. A. (Lebanese born in 1991)         

-A. Z. (Lebanese born in 1990) He was arrested with around 0.5 kg of kief hashish in his possession.        

During inquiries, the first man admitted to having carried out acts of piracy and stolen around 600 emails, blackmailing their owners and stealing their identity to get large sums of money by transferring recharge card dollars to cellphones and selling them. These amounts reached around $200.000 and all the electronic equipment used was seized.          

The ISF General Directorate called on citizens who were victims of such activities to head to the Cyber Crime and Intellectual Property Rights Bureau Unit located in the barracks of the late Colonel Joseph Daher in Kamil Chamoun Boulevard or call 01/293293.