'Call-sell' rings steal cellular service, link Arabs to Israel for $18 a minute

Article Abstract:

Telephone fraud has now invaded the cellular industry through a theft ring that links calls between Arab countries and boycotted Israel by stealing cellular services from US cellular carriers. These rings, called call-sell operations, charge $18 per minute for each call and are difficult for authorities to catch because of the mobile nature of cellular service. One ring was broken up in Jan 1992 in Phoenix, AZ; the five people arrested are all Middle Eastern nationals. The US Secret Service, police and telephone companies are cooperating to uncover rings in the US and Canada. The call-sell operation works through agents in Middle Eastern countries, employed by the ring in the US, who arrange telephone calls to Israel at specified times, which then are patched through a conference call via a cellular company or a long-distance company. Since the services are stolen, all of the money taken for the calls is profit. The legitimate cellular customers are billed for the fraudulent calls. The Phoenix operation is estimated to have earned $5 million in two weeks.

Analysis, Usage, Services, Telecommunications services industry, Telecommunications industry, Cellular telephones, Wireless telephones, Crimes against, International trade, Fraud, Investigations, Cellular Radio, Middle East, Israel, Investigation, Telecommunications traffic, Communications traffic

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AT&T sues MCI, saying competitor violated patents

Article Abstract:

AT and T sues MCI Communications Corp in a Washington, DC, federal court, charging MCI with violating 10 AT and T patents. The patent dispute centers on software and technologies that MCI wants to license to foreign carriers. The dispute began in Sep 1993, when MCI licensed its network software to Stentor, Canada's national long-distance consortium. When AT and T announced that the contract violated AT and T patents, MCI sued to have the patents declared invalid. In its suit, AT and T seeks unspecified damages for past and future use of the patents. The patents cover the distinctive 'bong' that alerts long-distance callers to tap in their credit card numbers, a method for queueing up toll-free callers until their calls are answered and other matters.

Electronic computers, Cases, T, Long distance telephone services, Long-distance telephone service, American Telephone and Telegraph Co., MCI Communications Corp., MCIC, Patent

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