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Cellular Phone Fraud

Subscriber Fraud Explained

Subscriber Fraud Explained

The telephone fraud known as "subscriber fraud" occurs when a criminal uses either fake information or the information of another individual without authorization to open up a phone account. When using another person's information (otherwise known as the "victim's" information), the victim is then billed on their account for the calls made by the criminal.
 
 
Subscriber fraud commonly occurs with cell phones and unfortunately is one of the most common forms of telephone fraud. The FCC estimates that subscriber fraud causes cell phone companies to lose more than $150 million dollars a year. Another study conducted by the Communication Fraud Control Association (CFCA) showed that subscriber fraud accounted for 47% of funds lost due to telephone fraud.
 
 
If the criminal was able to provide identification under a false alias when opening an account, this can make it quite troubling for the victim to prove that they did not actually make the calls that they were billed for.
 
 
The terms "cramming" and "slamming" are commonly used when describing subscriber fraud. The term "cramming" refers to chargers made on the victims behalf by the criminal. "Slamming" refers to an unauthorized modification in the service provider. Cramming is one of the most reported complaints and usually occurs when subscriber fraud is committed. In order to remain undetected, many criminals who commit subscriber fraud ten to move around from place to place in order to avid being caught.
 
 
Subscriber fraud is being described as one of the largest cases of fraud committed causing the most financial loss to date. Subscriber fraud has also been associated with crimes that are punishable on a much larger scale such as: money laundering, opening unethical business practices, or even to conduct tax evasion. In an effort to combat subscriber fraud, software has actually been developed the can be used on an individuals phone that will notify them and their phone network of any suspicious third party calls made on their phone.
 
 
Most of these programs include lists that contain names of criminals who have been found guilty in the past of subscriber fraud in an effort to catch them again and to prevent them from committed the same kind of telephone fraud twice.

Cellular Phone Fraud Overview

Cellular Phone Fraud Overview

When it comes to cellular phone fraud, there are several ways a criminal can utilize a cell phone to commit an act of deceit that involves fraud and can financially or socially hurt the victim involved.
One way cell phone scams are executed involves subscribing for a cell phone and/or cell phone plan under false information or by using a third party’s information without their authorization. This is what is known as subscriber fraud.
The other kind of cell phone fraud is referred to as cell phone cloning fraud and it involves cloning cell phones and either selling them or trying to pass it off as a an actual cell phone.
Another way involves lost or stolen phones being obtained and used by an unauthorized user. 
There is also a method of eavesdropping that involves someone installing a device on another person’s cell phone allowing them to eavesdrop on their phone calls.
Cell phone scams also involve using ring tones that can be downloaded to one’s phone of obtained by calling a 1-800 number. This can cause the user to get hacked or to be charged a hefty fine.
Cell phone scams can also include a “competing” phone company calling to offer a better deal when they are actually another phone store trying to lie to you so you will purchase on of their phone packages.
Making sure to read the fine print is another way to avoid being ripped off in a cell phone scam. Many cell phone deals sound great until the bill arrives with a bunch of additional fees.
“Vote with your phone” is another cell phone scam that can actually be considered a federal offense. It offers to allow you to vote for a candidate by phone, when it actually cheats you out or your vote.
Some “do not call” registries are also not legitimate and are just one of many cell phone scams aimed at collecting cell phone numbers.
Although these are all common ways that cell phone scams are committed, the two most commonly reported scams are actually subscriber fraudcell phone cloning