Cell Phone Fraud

Cell Phone fraud may occur in two different ways: Identity Theft and Cell Phone Cloning.

Identity Theft

Identity theft occurs when someone signs up for service with fraudulently obtained customer information or false identification. Lawbreakers use your personal information and use it to set up a cell phone account in your name.

It may take a while to solve identity theft and it could be a long and difficult process for the victim. Call your carrier if you think you have been a victim of identity theft.

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.

Click here to file a complaint.