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We worry so much about software security, be it applications or operating systems, that it's easy to forget softer targets like cellphones. Losing one can have consequences beyond mere inconvenience.
Criminals who steal cellphones tend to use them, especially in this modern age where loads of additional services offer games and movies for easy downloading. Those downloads offer a nice profit to the wireless companies, who are not eager to give up those gains.
Some tourist lost a cellphone to theft before embarking on a chartered sailboat for a vacation trip. The Consumerist blog had Tiffany's story of this loss, which left her with a $450 bill for downloads:
The phone was stolen at 6pm June 29 and the jerk that took my phone made calls to Dominica and downloaded a bunch of porn to watch on my RAZR - in fact he downloaded $200 worth of stuff in two days! Now I get worried, as the jag had the phone for 7 days before I was able to call it in, but I can't see my July bill online yet.
I call customer service and find out that all said, the ass racked up over $450 in download charges. He downloaded movies like "Pillow Fight Girls 3" and "Miami Nights: Singles in Heat." I didn't even know the AT&T Mall sold stuff like that to download to your phone?
AT&T eventually knocked the charge back to $300, but would not wipe it out. The reason? Customers apparently do this intentionally, to get out of massive vacation- generated phone bills.
The AT&T rep told Tiffany she should have called in the theft immediately, and it's not really clear from her account whether she had the opportunity to do so.
Her $300 lesson in security is far less than what another woman could have been subjected to in similar circumstances. Consumerist noted the saga of Wendy Nguyen, whose phone was stolen just before she headed overseas for a vacation.
The resulting $26,000 phone bill prompted a Cingular rep to suggest she file for bankruptcy. Cellphone companies tuck a little note in the fine print that tells people they are liable for calls made before the phone is reported as lost or stolen.
Fortunately for Nguyen, her chat with a San Francisco TV station about Cingular's stance led to the company dropping the charges, for which she was able to prove she was not in the country when they were incurred.
The lesson for everyone else should be clear. If you lose your cellphone, do whatever it takes to contact the wireless provider immediately. These companies are going to dig in behind their boilerplate legalese if they aren't notified, and they do seem to have reason for doing so.
About
the Author:
David Utter is a business and technology writer for SecurityProNews and WebProNews.
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