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Phone Cloners are Listening
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Creators Syndicate
FIGHT BACK! BY DAVID HOROWITZ
Phone Cloners are Listening
Any ordinary radio scanner, the kind people use to listen to
police and fire calls, can pick up cellular phone conversations. But
there's a different type of scanner on the market now that is made to
monitor cellular phone data streams instead of conversation. Encoded
in that data stream is all the information the thief needs to make a
"clone phone" -- one that automatically charges calls to the
legitimate subscriber's phone bill.
These scanners can pick up transmissions from as far as 100
feet away -- from a freeway overpass or another car on the highway.
They are sold by mail-order houses and electronic-supply stores all
over the country.
Making a clone phone is not particularly difficult for anyone
familiar with computer and telephone technology. All the cloner does
is remove the E-Prom chip from another cellular phone, erase the
original information on the chip and then reprogram it with the stolen
code numbers. When the cloned chip is put back in the phone, it acts
just like the victim's phone, and all calls placed from that unit will
show up on that person's monthly bill.
Cloned phones are usually good for about a month -- until the
legitimate subscriber reports the unauthorized calls to the cellular
carrier and those codes are canceled in the system. This kind of fraud
costs cellular carriers more than $300 million a year. And, of course,
that cost is passed along to their subscribers.
Illegally duplicated cellular phones are in great demand among
drug dealers and other criminals who don't want their calls traced
back to them. They're also used by long-distance phone-room operators
who charge a flat rate for calls placed anywhere in the world.
"It's very lucrative," says Clint Howard, who recently retired
from his position as special agent in charge of the Secret Service
office in Los Angeles. "It's a significant crime from our
perspective," Howard said, "and one that we in the Secret Service are
doing everything we can to control."
The Secret Service and local police have raided phone- cloning
operations all over the country and seized thousands of illegal
cellular units. Federal penalties for this type of fraud are stiff --
10 years in prison and a fine of $10,000 for each offense. But
catching these people is difficult and time consuming.
The cellular phone industry is using more sophisticated
technology to trap phone cloners. Computers automatically track
subscribers' charges, looking for sudden increases and changes in
calling patterns. As more networks are tied together, computers can
also spot calls being placed simultaneously from different locations.
Newer digital cellular phone transmissions can be encrypted
to foil the scanners. But with more than 17 million cellular phones
already in use, converting from analog to digital equipment will take
years. Carriers are understand- ably reluctant to force subscribers to
exchange their analog phones for digital ones at their own expense.
They would probably switch carriers, instead.
Technology and law enforcement won't solve the problem
entirely -- at least not right away. If you have a cellular phone,
keep a close eye on your monthly bills. That may the first clue you
have that you've been cloned.
If you have any questions or comments, please write to David
Horowitz in the Consumer Forum+ (go FIGHTBACK).
COPYRIGHT 1994 CREATORS SYNDICATE, INC.
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