  Scams made by prisoners calling their victims from jails with the use of cell phones have been constantly reported to authorities. -A.M. Costa Rica illustrative photo- |
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Monday, October 26, 2020
Cell signal
blocking in prisons beginsBy the A.M. Costa Rica staff The Ministry of Justice announced that they will be blocking cellular signal and internet access in jails. The telecommunications companies have applied technology to block the internet and cellphone signal in wireless devices in jails. The jail service block should not affect the cell signal or internet service to people who live near the jails, the ministry said. April was the original deadline to develop the cell phones and other devices blockade, but due to the situation caused by the covid-19 emergency, the telephone operators could not comply with this process. According to the ministry, the international specialists in charge of carrying out the final tests were expected to arrive in the country. Due to the pandemic, this process was carried out virtually. Also, the ban on driving rule slowed down the visit of specialists to jails. Starting this week, technology will gradually be installed inside all 20 prisons to block internet access and cell phone signals. The installation process will take the rest of the year, for that reason authorities call to not answer anonymous calls from people who claim to represent public institutions and seek to mislead people to obtain bank account data. Authorities warn to never give bank account information or download applications on computers or other devices, as a request from people pretending to be representatives of public institutions. Fiorella Salazar Rojas, Minister of Justice, said that due to confidentiality aspects of the agreement with the three companies in charge of the block system, the ministry will not disclose the details related to the cost of this service. Prisoners can continue to communicate with families, friends or lawyers through the authorized and monitored public phones available in the jail, officials noted. Scams made by prisoners calling their victims from jails with the use of cell phones have been constantly reported to authorities. Due to that, the deputies of the Legislative Assembly approved in 2019 the installation of systems to block the outgoing calls from prisons made by cell phones. Last year, the ministry reported that 2,412 various types of electronic equipment, including cell phones had been confiscated from all of the prisons in the country. Of these, the majority are from La Reforma jail in Alajuela Province. According to police statistics, 15,341 cell phones have been confiscated from inside prisoners cells between 2015 to 2019. -------------------------------- What have you heard of people being scammed because of fake calls made from prisons? We would like to know your thoughts on this story. Send your comments to news@amcostarica.com  |
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