74 lines
3.6 KiB
Plaintext
74 lines
3.6 KiB
Plaintext
NY Telephone Cuts Int'l Service At Some pay Phones (NEWSBYTES)
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NEW YORK, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1992 JUN 18 (NB) -- As part of its effort
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to figh phone fraud with stolen calling card numbers, New York
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Telephone is blocking international calls from most of its public
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phones inside the Port Authority Bus Terminal and at surrounding
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sidewalk locations. The company said it would also target other
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high-fraud areas throughout New York City.
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New York Telephone will rely on technology developed by Mars
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Electronics International, based in Pennsylvania, which blocks
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international calls attempted through any long distance carrier or
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private business phone system. New York Telephone said it would
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implement the program at selected public phones so as not to
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inconvenience legitimate callers.
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This is the second time that phone companies have limited service at
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pay phones as an anti-crime move. A few years ago, some phones were
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switched from touchtone to rotary dial service, to keep people using
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them from reaching beepers allegedly used by drug dealers.
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Now the problem is "sidewalk surfing," where thieves listen to callers
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giving their card numbers to operators, or peer over their shoulders
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when they take out calling cards. The numbers are then taken to a pay
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phone, where services using them are sold to all comers. Frequently,
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the services are sold to drug dealers, who can then make untraceable
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calls to their overseas contacts. Some observers claim that the
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numbers are also used by illegal immigrants calling their families
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back home.
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Telephone fraud is estimated at more than $1 billion a year
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nationwide. New York Telephone operates more than 57,000 public
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phones in New York City.
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(Dana Blankenhorn/19920618/Press Contact: Maureen Flanagan, New York
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Telephone, 212-395-0500)
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+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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****NY Police Responds To Blockage Of Int'l Phone Calls 06/18/92
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WASHINGTON, D.C., U.S.A., 1992 JUN 18 (NB) -- New York State Police
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Special Investigator Donald Delaney, in a conversation with Newsbytes,
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strongly supported the move by New York Telephone Company, blocking
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calls to foreign countries from pay phones in New York City's Times
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Square , Port Authority Bus Terminal and other midtown locations with
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a history of high credit card calling fraud, as reported elsewhere by
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Newsbytes.
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Delaney said: "I think that it is about time that such action was
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taken. Telephone fraud in New York City is out of control and that is
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why that New York Telephone took the action"
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Delaney continued: "I think that this should be just the beginning. It
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is not only in midtown Manhattan that we find this fraud. From one end
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of Broadway t another, there is heavy incidence of fraudulent calls
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through pay phones. You will also find neighborhoods that have high
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incidence of the same type of crime. I would like to see the same type
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of blockage on all pay phones." The Port Authority Bus Terminal has
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long been identified as a major scene of telecommunications fraud
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encompassing not only call selling by the collection of valid credit
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card numbers from unsuspecting users so that numbers may, in turn, be
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used for fraudulent calls. The numbers are generally taken through
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"shoulder-surfing", a term for simply looking over the shoulder of an
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unsuspecting caller and recording the keystrokes made while entering
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the credit card number.
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According to Delaney, shoulder-surfing in the Port Authority takes in
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a whole new dimension with people using binoculars and telescopes from
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positions in Port Authority's balcony to see the numbers and
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voice-activated tape recorder to record them.
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(Barbara E. McMullen & John F. McMullen/19920617)
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