FBI receives reports of unusual cellphone purchases in Cape, Jackson, other Missouri cities

The Cape Girardeau and Jackson police departments have notified the FBI more than 50 prepaid cellphones were purchased at Cape Girardeau and Jackson Wal-Mart stores on the same day last week.

FBI spokeswoman Rebecca Wu of the agency's St. Louis division confirmed Thursday the federal law-enforcement agency has been notified of cellphone purchases but offered no details.

Cellphones are potential tools in the hands of terrorists, both for communication purposes and to detonate bombs, the nation's law-enforcement officials previously have said.

But it's legal to purchase even a large number of prepaid cellphones.

"In the past, we have seen activity of a similar nature to this that was not related to terrorism," Wu said.

Jackson police said 48 prepaid cellphones were purchased Dec. 4 at the town's Wal-Mart.

The same day, Cape Girardeau police reported, fewer than 10 prepaid cellphones were purchased at the Wal-Mart store in Cape Girardeau.

Jackson and Cape Girardeau police said the incidents were reported to the FBI for further investigation.

The FBI's Wu said her agency encourages the public to report any suspicious activities.

"If you see something, say something," she advised.

A number of suspicious purchases of cellphones have been reported recently in other Missouri cities.

Missouri law-enforcement officials became suspicious and alerted the FBI after a small number of men bought more than 100 prepaid, disposable cellphones from Wal-Mart stores in three cities in a 24-hour period.

Two men who bought roughly 60 phones Saturday in Lebanon in southwestern Missouri were questioned by police and released.

At least one man seen on security footage playing a role in buying 32 cellphones Saturday at a Wal-Mart in Macon, Missouri, used his credit card but left the store before police were summoned, Macon County sheriff's detective Curt Glover said Thursday.

Five or more men were reported to have bought an unspecified number of the phones the night of Dec. 4 in Columbia, Missouri, police said.

Local investigators viewed the purchases as curious because such phones, often called "burners," can be bought and used anonymously, then discarded in an effort to avoid detection.

"There's no violation of criminal law, as far as we're aware," Glover said.

"They can go to a retail store and buy as many items as they wish. But when they buy a high number of one item most people wouldn't buy, it's cause for suspicion."

An FBI spokeswoman in Kansas City, Missouri, Bridget Patton, said Thursday it is not uncommon for local law enforcement to contact the federal agency if they deem something suspicious.

Patton would not say whether the FBI is investigating formally.

Prepaid cellphones, popular among international travelers and consumers with poor credit, also commonly are used by drug dealers and gang members because they don't require personal data be given to the seller or service provider, masking the user's identity.

Such phones also have been linked to suspected terror activity, including by a man accused of plotting to bomb Times Square in 2010 and using a prepaid phone to communicate with co-conspirators in Pakistan.

Police reports and interviews with investigators where the transactions took place did not disclose demographics about the buyers.

A Wal-Mart spokeswoman did not return a message Thursday.

Southeast Missourian staff writer Mark Biss contributed to this story.