Suspicious cell phone purchases investigated

Fox 59 News ^ | 8/16/06 | Kimberly King

[CindyDawg]

They are using rental cars too.

[Dasaji]

Another possible scenario for the purchase of these Tracphones is that someone "underground" may have figured out a way to hack into Tracfone's system so that these pre-paid phone minutes no longer need to be "paid" for and it's only a certain model that it will work on.

On the black market, a phone like that would sell for bundles. Hacking goes on all over the place with cell phone networks, so it wouldn't surprise me.

[stlnative]

yes or any other provider - read the articles I posted in the thread.

also Google "Unlocked TracFones" or "Unlocking TracFones"

[CindyDawg]

It just doesn't make sense to me. They could use a store for a front and order them wholesale. These guys are driving all over the country. Gas alone would make this non profitable imo.

[A CA Guy]

For resale again.

Take the information and turn the information over the the IRS and if they are not legit, bust them like you would Capone.

[abigailsmybaby]

Just imagine the big boom all across our country if every gas station owned by a middle easterner was blown up at the same time.

Just something that runs thru my mind every time I fill up my car.

[CindyDawg]

This has been going on for a while. Maybe the feds have some kind of arrangement with Nokia and tracking signals have been added. It would be an interesting rumor to start anyway, to see how many end up in the trash:')

[jellybean]

I've been keeping track of these pre-paid cell phone purchases on a map at Frappr. Click on an icon for more information about each purchase. Some of the icons are very close together, but if you zoom in on the map, they separate enough to get the details.

Blogger also has a map he's put together.

[stlnative]

No they cannot, TracFone is suing a company in florida over doing what you think would be the easy way to go.
See post 51

[CindyDawg]

This may just be a fund raiser but I still think it's terrorist related .

[DannyTN]

That's right, sic the phone company on them. They have no idea about terror!!!

"Here at the Phone Company we handle eighty-four billion calls a year. Serving everyone from presidents and kings to scum of the earth. (snort) We realize that every so often you can't get an operator, for no apparent reason your phone goes out of order [snatches plug out of switchboard], or perhaps you get charged for a call you didn't make. We don't care. Watch this [bangs on a switch panel like a cheap piano] just lost Peoria. (snort) You see, this phone system consists of a multibillion-dollar matrix of space-age technology that is so sophisticated, even we can't handle it. But that's your problem, isn't it ? Next time you complain about your phone service, why don't you try using two Dixie cups with a string. We don't care. We don't have to. (snort) We're the Phone Company!" -- Lily Tomlin from "Saturday Night Live: The First 20 Years" (1994 Cader Company).

[abigailsmybaby]

There's absolutely nothing suspicious going on tho.

[jellybean]

No, nothing suspicious here. It's just coincidence these are all Muslim men between the ages of 19-25 who travel across the country buying all the Tracfones available in each store.

Ping me if you come across any more of these stories please.

[unclegar95]

Why would someone need 1000's for new tracfones..... Why would they pay 30$-40$ for them.... If someone wanted they could go on ebay and buy large amounts of (USED) tracfones for alot less.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Motorola-V180-GSM-handsets-Lot-of-58_W0QQitemZ220015632498QQihZ012QQcategoryZ45071QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

if they wanted the batteries to make drugs they could go to ebay and buy hunderds at a time
http://cgi.ebay.com/50-Motorola-V60-NEXTEL-I90-I95-I730-SNN5705-OEM-BATTERY_W0QQitemZ110019915403QQihZ001QQcategoryZ64356QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem


Do you realize how much these tracfones are selling for in other countries like China and Hong Kong.

If you have followed these stories more then just reading the head lines you will see that the FBI has dropped the charges or will be dropping the charges.

Right now there are 100's of people that are not middle eastern buying up every tracfone they can and reselling them and are making alot of money...

Thats why there are so many reports all over the US

[piasa]

Good finds. Since there is an injunction against Sol already, who is buying these phones from the lately?

Has someone else found out these phones were hackable from reading the descriptions of procedures in the legal case in which Sol is a defendent? Some articles mentioned a buyer in Dallas and a buyer in Dearborn. Some articles indicate the phones were to be shipped overseas.

In the Sol case the company resold the phones with their packaging, batteries and chargers intact.

I can see a company disscarding the packaging -now- and removing the brand name from the sets since the legal case focuses on the issue of logos and the phones being resold under the plaintiff's corporate name. Perhaps by discarding these things and selling the phone genericly an 'entrepreneur' the folks doing this hope to avoid getting sued.

What I don't see is a company like Sol discarding the battery chargers [the investigators noted that the items were repacked].

Perhaps the chargers and packaging weren't being discarded but just tossed in the same box until after the phones could be unlocked, and press reports weren't clear. These things were found in the vehicles, after all, and not in a dumpster.

I also don't see Sol being interested in flight manifests and airport security information which some defendents apparently had on them. But then, Sol- or whoever is the buyer now- may not concern themselves with how their phone-procurers plan to spend their paychecks.

[abigailsmybaby]

Hey! Are you profiling?! Shame on you. :)

[stlnative]

hey NEWBIE... I have been doing the research for days now, check out all my posts on this thread. (this means follow the links to the full stories)

[stlnative]

Batteries have to be removed to access the SIM Card through a couple screws on the body of the phone which are under the battery. It could be that they give the phone bodies to someone who then unlocks them, then the phones are returned to the buyers and they pop the batteries back in them to resell them as UNLOCKED phones.

Unlocking cell phones is a hot subject all over the internet, many people are looking for the unlock codes and people are more than willing to give them the info. Just google unlocking cell phones, unlock cell phone, unlocking Tracfones, etc...

The profits they make off the phones may be used for terrorism and it could be that the "unlocked phone sellers" take trade in's and it could be the trade in's are sent to Iraq to be made into detonators.

[supercat]

If there is some kind of profit scheme in this why are we not seeing Asians buying up cell phones like this?

Would we notice if there were? Of is the fact that some of the buyers are "Middle-Eastern" that causes them to be regarded with suspicion?

Not saying there isn't reason to be suspicious, but countering a threat requires accurately identifying it. Being suspicious of one thing when something else is going on won't help.

[sbMKE]

The more I dig, the more I think these are going overseas for resale. Unlockable/unlocked phones makes sense - just like the black market on hacked/hackable satellite tv equipment, if it can be used to exploit a loophole in a system it'll sell very well and for a high profit.