Hack-proof mob GANGSTERS BUYING £ 1,400 UNCRACKABLE PHONE OFF NET
MOBILE phones that delete all data before police can access it are being sold on ebay for £1,400.
The handsets are a must for gangsters, including those at the top of county lines drugs rackets plaguing Britain.
Encrochat phones wipe everything unless a 15-character password is entered correctly, meaning detectives cannot access anything incriminating on them. One leading police officer has said: “The developers have perfected secure private communication.”
The Dutch firm behind the phone says it is “the electronic equivalent of a conversation between two people in an empty room”.
While the technology is legal and developed out of human-rights concerns over privacy, the high degree of security it offers has made it attractive to criminals.
Det Con Elliot Humphrey of the Metropolitan Police said the Encro phones are being used by top-tier crooks.
He described them as “idiot proof” and “user friendly”, adding: “The developers have perfected secure private communication. You are ensured police will not get any evidence if the phone is seized, unless they have the 15-character password.”
A security expert said county lines gangs are likely to be dodging investigators with Encrochat phones.
Simon Ford, of the Association of Town Centre Management’s Violence and Vulnerability Unit, said: “If you peel back a couple of layers behind the drug runners and dealers on the ground, I’ve no doubt some are using them on the basis of the money they are pulling alone from the drug supply and importation.”
We found handsets on ebay, pre-loaded with six months’ activation, for £1,400.
Buyers can spread the cost with monthly payments, just like an ordinary phone contract. The company behind the sale is Dotnet Communications, based at an internet cafe in Sheffield.
The rise of hack- proof phones was revealed in the trial of contract killer Mark “Iceman” Fellows, 38.
He was jailed for life last week for murdering Liverpool gangster John Kinsella and Salford Mr Big Paul Massey.
Police seized phones from Fellows and co- defendant Stephen Boyle, 36, who “spotted” for Kinsella’s slaying but could not crack the devices. They had no way of seeing messages they had sent to each other.
Boyle, who was jailed for a minimum of 33 years, told Liverpool crown court: “No one even owns a normal phone
these days.” AQUAMAN star Jason Momoa chills out in a leather jacket and a hat to match as he wraps up against the cold.
He was pictured in the US state of Utah, where temperatures were a few degrees below freezing.
Jason, 39, was at the Sundance Film Festival. And while there was a bit of sun, there was no sign of him dancing. But hey, when you’re a seagoing superhero nobody’s going to mind... well, not when you’re 6ft 4in and 17st!
Jason, 39 – wed to Cosby Show actress Lisa Bonet, 51 – was Khal Drogo in Game of Thrones.
And the word is he’ll thrill fans again in an Aquaman sequel.
Utah very much, Jase!