Monday, Jul 14

Traffickers Hack Prepaid Phones

It's not mobile media-related, but Reuters has an interesting report on those inexpensive, pre-paid phones—the ones you can buy for about $15, use the built-in minutes, and then buy more minutes whenever you need them. In South Florida, New York, California, Georgia, and Texas, "traffickers have figured out they can make big profits by purchasing thousands of these low-cost phones and tweaking the software so that calls can be made on any cell network," the report said. "The altered phones are then sold all over the world—costing the phone companies tens of millions of dollars."

This is worse than it seems, because America is a unique case where people pay little to nothing for cell phones up front, so that the carriers can stick it to charge consumers over a two-year period. When thieves steal the low-cost phones and hack them to work forever, the carrier really loses in both directions, since they subsidized the cost of the phone in the first place.

"There is a lot of profit in it," said James Baldinger, a West Palm Beach attorney with the Carlton Fields firm who represents TracFone, in the report. "Even as we continue to shut people down, we do find there are people still engaged in it." Check out the full report for more details.


new on mediabistro.com

How to Write an Arts and Culture Review

Learn everything you need to know to write a smart, publishable review of music, film, books, theater or any other arts and culture topic.
Watch the video

Email This Post

Fill out the following information and click on the Send button in order to send this post, Traffickers Hack Prepaid Phones, to a friend.
Friend's name
Friend's email address
Your name
Your email address
Note to your friend (optional, max 200 Characters)

Read more on MobileContentToday >

All the Mobile News That Fits...in Your Hand
MobileContentToday in Your Inbox
Mobile Version
RSS Feed
Our Blog Network

BayNewser

WebNewser

TVNewser

PRNewser

MediaJobsDaily

FishbowlNY

FishbowlDC

FishbowlLA

AgencySpy

GalleyCat

UnBeige

MobileContentToday

MobileContentToday

Editor:

Todd Ogasawara

Topics

About

About Us - Modules

About Us - Subheader Module

Android

Apple

AT&T

BlackBerry

Data Services

eBooks

GPS, Maps, and Directions

Handsets

Hardware

Internet Radio

iPhone

Job Postings

Management Changes

Media Deals

Messaging

Mobile

Mobile Advertising

Mobile Commerce

Mobile Content

Mobile Games

Mobile Marketing

Mobile Music

Mobile Video

Mobile Web

Motorola

MVNOs

Netbooks

Networks

Nokia

Online Video

Palm

Pandora Radio

Photo Sharing

Portals

Security

Social Networking

Software

Sony

Sprint

T-Mobile

Tips and Tricks

Verizon

Virgin Mobile

Voice Plans

Windows Mobile

Archives

November 2009

October 2009

September 2009

August 2009

more...

Job Listings

Featured Listings

Sales Account Manager
Huson International Media
New York, NY

Account / Project Manager - Design & Branding
Mucca Design
New York, NY


mediabistro.com l Member Benefits l Jobs l Freelance Marketplace l Courses l Events l Forums l Content
mediabistro Blogs: Media News l TVNewser l GalleyCat l UnBeige l FishbowlNY l FishbowlLA l FishbowlDC l PRNewser l AgencySpy
MobileContentToday l WebNewser l BayNewser l MediaJobsDaily l mbToolbox
Site Map l Advertising/Sponsorships l Partners l About Us l Contact Us/Help

internet.commediabistro.comJusttechjobs.comGraphics.com

Search:

WebMediaBrands Corporate Info

Legal Notices, Licensing, Reprints, Permissions, Privacy Policy.
Advertise | Newsletters | Shopping | E-mail Offers