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From: pur-ee!ghg@en.ecn.purdue.edu (George Goble)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: GTE Mobilnet Restricts International Dialing Nationwide
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Date: 7 Nov 90 15:14:47 GMT
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X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 10, Issue 808, Message 2 of 9


I received notice last month that GTE Mobilnet was dropping the
ability to direct dial international calls from cell phones, even if
you were roaming on somebody else's system.

All they cited was rising "fraud".  The notice said that operator made
calls on credit card, etc. would still be possible though.

What kind of "fraud" do you think is going on?  I thought "bandit"
roamers and all that were pretty well under control with "positive
verification" now?  The local switch engineers say that bandits can
sometimes get one call off before being shutdown (maybe a long one?)
All the local switch operators knew about the dialing restriction was
that it was "national", and they were not given a reason other than
what we got.  Just think of all the scanner bait of people passing
credit card numbers on voice now!  This sounds far less secure to me,
but "somebody else" gets stuck with the charges, not Mobilnet.  


ghg


[Moerator's Note: The more I think about it, the more I realize what a
good deal Ameritech Cellular is: very inexpensive rates and an
excellent signal. Re international dialing on GTE, I suspect you will
still be able to zero plus the calls through the desired carrier; i.e.
01 + overseas number + calling card number. While you can't fool all
the phreaks all the time, translating the sounds of a card number
being entered requires more effort than copying down with a pencil
what you hear on the scanner when a subscriber passes the card number
to an operator.  PAT]