Cell Phone Fraud

Preventing Cell Phone Fraud

Cell Phone Fraud Prevention

When it comes to cell phone fraud it happens in a couple of different ways. The first is done through identity theft. This means somebody steals your identity to set up cell phone service without your consent. This can be very damaging to your credit and can be a real mess to clean up. However, there are things you can do. You can sign up for Life Lock or a similar service which will help protect you against identity theft. They will notify you whenever a new account is being opened in your name, stopping identity thieves in their tracks and preserving your credit and your good name. The second way of cell phone fraud is done by cell phone cloning. More on that in a little bit. Here is what to do about cell phone fraud and how to protect yourself if it happens to you.

How does cell phone fraud work?

Cell Phone Fraud is defined as the unauthorized use, tampering, or manipulation of a cellular phone or cell phone services. At one time, cloning of cellular phones was responsible for a large amount of cellular fraud. This resulted in the Wireless Telephone Protection Act of 1998 which expanded prior laws to criminalize the use, possession, manufacture or sale of cloning hardware or software. Nowadays, the most common type of cell fraud is subscriber fraud. It is estimated that cellular phone carriers lose more than $150 million per year due to subscriber cell phone fraud.

What Is Subscriber Fraud?

Subscriber fraud is the same as the first kind of cell phone fraud discussed earlier. It occurs when someone signs up for cellular phone service with fraudulently-obtained customer information or a false identification. These criminals get your personal information and use it to set up a cell phone accounts, credit cards, and other things in your name.

Resolving this subscriber fraud or identity theft can develop into a very difficult process for victims. It can take time to discover that subscriber fraud has occurred and an even longer time to prove that you did not incur the debts. Prevent subscriber fraud and all other forms of identity theft before they happen as this is much cheaper and easier to do than after the fact. If you think you have been victimized by cell phone subscriber fraud, call your cell phone carrier right away.

What Is Cell Phone Cloning Fraud?

Each cell phone has a unique factory-set electronic serial number (ESN) and telephone number (MIN). This is not the case with a cloned cell phone. Cloned cellular phones have been reprogrammed to transmit the ESN and MIN belonging to another person’s cell phone. Thieves obtain valid ESN/MIN combinations by illegally monitoring the radio wave transmissions from cellular phones of legitimate customers. After cell phone cloning has taken place, both the fraudulent and legitimate wireless phones share the same ESN/MIN combination. This makes it impossible for cellular systems to distinguish the legitimate cell phone from the cloned phone. The actual cell phone customer then receives the bill for the cloned phone’s calls and his own calls. If you believe you are a victim of cell phone cloning fraud, contact your cell phone provider right away.