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.
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Federal Communications Commission · Consumer
& Governmental Affairs Bureau · 445 12th St. S.W. ·
Washington, DC 20554 |
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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