52 lines
2.2 KiB
Plaintext
52 lines
2.2 KiB
Plaintext
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by Alan R. Bechtold
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CELLULAR FRAUD VERY PREVENTABLE,
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ACCORDING TO AUDIOVOX PRESIDENT
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(BPS) -- Eighteen people arrested last week in New York on charges of illegally
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using their cellular telephones would have been unable to commit such a crime
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had they been using cellular phones from Audiovox Corp., according to John
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Shalam, president of Audiovox.
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The 18 were arrested on charges of illegally altering memory chips in their
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mobile phones so they could make calls without being charged.
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"The sad thing is that this crime is very preventable," Shalam said. "If this
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type of alteration is attempted on an Audiovox cellular phone, the phone is
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rendered useless."
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According to Louis Antoniou, vice president of Audiovox's mobile electronics
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division, such tampering is prevented on Audiovox phones by an algorithm built
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into the software which prevents alteration of the phone's electronic serial
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number (E.S.N).
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"If someone attempts to change the E.S.N. without using the algorithm, the
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phone will not activate," Antoniou said. "As far as we know, such prevention
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against tampering is unique to Audiovox."
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Cellular phones have memory chips which contain both a mobile identification
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number (M.I.N.) and the E.S.N. When a call is made, both the numbers are
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transmitted to the mobile carrier where a computer checks the validity of the
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E.S.N. If the number is valid, the call goes through and the cost is charged
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to a billing number provided by the M.I.N. chip.
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By reprogramming the E.S.N., those arrested apparently caused other people to
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be billed for their calls.
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Officials estimate that the fraud cost local mobile telephone companies
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approximately $40,000 per month. Nationwide, carriers were losing an estimated
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$3 million.
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Audiovox Corp., a major supplier of cellular telephones, autosound and auto
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security products, is located at 150 Marcus Blvd., Hauppauge, NY 11788, (516)
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249-3366.
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Downloaded from P-80 Systems......
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