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Cellular fraud (cell fraud) is defined as the
unauthorized use, tampering, or manipulation of a cellular phone or service.
At one time, cloning of cellular phones accounted for a large portion of
cell fraud. As a result, the Wireless Telephone Protection Act of 1998
expanded prior law to criminalize the use, possession, manufacture or sale
of cloning hardware or software. Currently, the primary type of cell fraud
is subscriber fraud. The cellular industry estimates that carriers lose more
than $150 million per year due to subscriber fraud.
What Is Subscriber Fraud?
Subscriber fraud occurs when someone signs up for service
with fraudulently-obtained customer information or false identification.
Lawbreakers obtain your personal information and use it to set up a cell phone
account in your name.
Resolving subscriber fraud could develop into a long and
difficult process for victims. It may take time to discover that subscriber
fraud has occurred and an even longer time to prove that you did not incur the
debts. Call your carrier if you think you have been a victim of subscriber
fraud.
What Is Cell Phone Cloning Fraud?
Every cell phone is supposed to have a unique factory-set
electronic serial number (ESN) and telephone number (MIN). A cloned cell
phone is one that has been reprogrammed to transmit the ESN and MIN
belonging to another (legitimate) cell phone. Unscrupulous people can obtain
valid ESN/MIN combinations by illegally monitoring the radio wave
transmissions from the cell phones of legitimate subscribers. After cloning,
both the legitimate and the fraudulent cell phones have the same ESN/MIN
combination and cellular systems cannot distinguish the cloned cell phone
from the legitimate one. The legitimate phone user then gets billed for the
cloned phone’s calls. Call your carrier if you think you have been a victim
of cloning fraud.
Summary
Remember, to prevent subscriber fraud, make sure that
your personal information is kept private when purchasing anything in a
store or on the Internet. Protecting your personal information is your
responsibility. For cell phone cloning fraud, the cellular equipment
manufacturing industry has deployed authentication systems that have proven
to be a very effective countermeasure to cloning. Call your cellular phone
carrier for more information.
For More Information
For more information on protecting your personal
information, see the FCC’s Protecting Your Privacy consumer fact sheet at
www.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/protectingprivacy.html. For information
about other communications issues, visit the FCC’s Consumer & Governmental
Affairs Bureau Web site at www.fcc.gov/cgb, or contact
the FCC’s Consumer Center by e-mailing
fccinfo@fcc.gov; calling 1-888-CALL-FCC (1-888-225-5322) voice or
1-888-TELL-FCC (1-888-835-5322) TTY; faxing 1-866-418-0232; or writing to:
Federal Communications Commission
Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau
Consumer Inquiries and Complaints Division
445 12th Street, SW
Washington, DC 20554.
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Federal Communications Commission · Consumer
& Governmental Affairs Bureau · 445 12th St. S.W. ·
Washington, DC 20554 |
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1-888-CALL-FCC (1-888-225-5322) ·
TTY: 1-888-TELL-FCC (1-888-835-5322) · Fax: 1-866-418-0232 · www.fcc.gov/cgb/
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Federal Communications Commission
