Large purchases of cell phones raise concerns locally and nationally

Sierra Vista Herald, Sierra Vista Arizona ^ | Gentry Braswell

[Revel]

"There has been speculation in the national and international media of cell phones being used to detonate explosives by members of terrorist, extremist and separatist groups around the world,” the agency said in its statement."

I don't hardly think they are planning on using thousands fo them to set off bombs. They don't have that many bombs. So it is kind of absurb to even make the connection.

[OnRightOnLeftCoast]

==Some civil rights types will not like it but you have No civil rights when your dead.==

The way the left thinks it is better to be dead than rude.

[Revel]

"I predict by next year you will have to have valid ID in order to buy a prepaid cellphone or prepaid cellphone time, with the cashier being required to activate the phone for you and take your personal information."

Bingo! and they only need one to set off a bomb. They can get that from anywhere. They can even steal one.

[spokeshave]

"On WRKO talk show Howie Carr heard woman who claimed to work at Ft Devens (old MA military installation) say that lithium ion batteries in large quantities represent some sort of toxic threat. Can anyone confirm this? Recall account of cell phone buyers that were separating phones from batteries. If for resale, why would one separate the batteries?"

To add to the ball bearings and scrap metal in huge fertilizer bombs......a few hundred small lithium ion batteries will just add to the havoc.

[RichardW]

I have one of these Tracfones myself, (and they are a great deal for the occasional user like myself) but I am at a loss to understand what is going on here. Like everyone here there are all manner of theories. There is no shortage of these phones no matter what the perps say. Something is up and the Homeland Security had better get on this and put a stop to it. Personally, I think these should be reregistered before they can be used. All pertinent data would have to be verified before they would be usable. It would be an inconvience but something has to be done to put a stop to this and NOW!

There might be something to "unlocking" these phones but I still can't see how it would be profitable. Does anyone have any insight on this? They are also available on ebay.

[Doctor Stochastic]

A lot of States now have laws against purchasing large quantities of Sudafed and other meth making materials... maybe disposable cell phones should be next.

Maybe they'll just ban cell phones entirely. (Is it true that only drug dealers and pimps need them?) Cell phones are at least as annoying as smoking.

[Doctor Stochastic]

Perhaps the same rules could be applied to people buying fatty foods, like sausages.

[operation clinton cleanup]

I used a tracphone for about 6 months as a cost cutting measure due to my low phone usage. Cell phones and pre-paid cell phones are not the issue, it's buying 10 or 20 or 100 at a time that seems to be dubious. It's not like buying cases of Ho-Ho's and selling them on the street above retail value.

[NonValueAdded]

Well slap me upside the head, perhaps they're not as dumb as I thought. Blam, you got me.

[blam]

"I used a tracphone for about 6 months as a cost cutting measure due to my low phone usage. Cell phones and pre-paid cell phones are not the issue, it's buying 10 or 20 or 100 at a time that seems to be dubious. It's not like buying cases of Ho-Ho's and selling them on the street above retail value."

Yup. I went to buy one the other day for just absolute emergencies and discovered that the 'minutes' expire every 60 days...I didn't know that. With that knowledge, I asked myself, what will they do with the phones after 60 days?

[Doctor Stochastic]

What they are doing is fiddling with the insides so that the phones may be used with other providers. The Dallas Morning News had a long article about it this morning. It seems to be a common practice.

The phones are sold at a loss so as to sell additional minutes later.

[blam]

Thanks, here it is:

N Texans Arraigned On Federal Charges In Cell Phone Case

...The federal complaint contains no mention of terrorism. It alleges that the three men defrauded consumers, TracFone Wireless Inc. and Nokia Corp.

Miami, Fla.-based TracFone sells prepaid cellular phones with a limited number of minutes at subsidized prices. It makes money when buyers of those phones purchase additional minutes from the company.

The government alleges the men are part of a scheme to buy up phones that Nokia makes for TracFone and then remove TracFone's proprietary software, making it possible to use the handsets with any cellular provider.

By altering the phones, they're no longer genuine Nokia products even though the appear like them.

The complaint said TracFone estimates that more than 800,000 of its telephones have been "fraudulently converted."

People involved in the trade of so-called "unlocked" cell phones maintain that it is legal.

Consumer advocates say locking the phones in the first place is illegal and there haven't been any court rulings about the legality of removing the phones' software...

[sbMKE]

Ding ding ding! They're likely unlocking them so they'll work on other networks (overseas I'd presume based on the charger throwaways). Tracphone sells them under cost as a loss-leader to gain access to recharge income. The "terrorists" are taking them out of packages to avoid import duties and shipping them out. The only logical reason why 1000's of them are being moved.

Tracphone has actually been working since early in the year to prosecute the practitioners of unlocking their phones through fraud laws. The folks that are trafficking the phones know this, hence their cover stories lacking total detail.

For Tracphone, the hysteria over cell phone terror is likely viewed as a PR program from heaven. Citizens will defend their business model out of patriotism.

Not to say that other uses are to be ruled out entirely, but in my opinion these "terrorists" are more guilty of being good capitalists than anything else.

[sbMKE]

How long until Tracphone adopts the hardware "lease" vs. sale model used by the sat guys like DirecTv to better combat "unlockers?"

[Northern Alliance]

Good theory. However, I think there is something relevant about the fact that they throw out the chargers. Perhaps they are buying them and sending them off to Iraq for use in IED's. I wonder if they are compatible with the phone system over there.

Why go through the hassle of buying them in the USA? You can buy unlimited quantities of cellphones in Thailand (in spite of announced regulations last year that would require ID) and probably many, many other countries.

[John Jamieson]

But why are they throwing away the charger???

[blam]

"Why go through the hassle of buying them in the USA? "

This is where they live and probably where they will be used?

[John Jamieson]

I got it. 220V countries. If they were going to sell them in 120V countries they would only need a plug adapter. So where are the 220V countries?

[Doctor Stochastic]

But why are they throwing away the charger???

Not throwing away, unbundling; selling as an accessory.

[John Jamieson]

Looks like all of the world except US, Japan and a few others.