Combating GSM prepaid card theft with SMS alert<\/p>\n
By Lim Tri Santosa<\/p>\n
BANDUNG (JP): "For all that is good, there is an evil," is a
\nsaying that has probably grown more familiar to each of us over
\nthe years. It is sad to say this saying also applies to cellular
\nphones, which are inviting targets for thieves. Most mobile phone
\nthefts involve phones stolen from unattended vehicles or by
\npickpockets.<\/p>\n
Related to the theft of mobile phones are prepaid GSM cards,
\nwhich represent the biggest growth sector in the mobile phone
\nmarket. These cards can be purchased without ID or legal papers
\nconfirming the true owner of the phone, and they protect ones
\nconfidentiality because there are no monthly bills.<\/p>\n
It is perfect for thieves. So why don't the networks blacklist
\nall stolen and lost phones to send a clear message to thieves
\nthat stolen phones will be useless?<\/p>\n
Instead, they allow stolen phones, especially those using
\nprepaid cards, to continue to use their networks, contributing
\nmore revenue to the fastest growing communications sector.<\/p>\n
Further irritation is the expense of purchasing a second
\nmobile phone. Usually the prices of the cell phones you see
\nadvertised in newspapers and magazines are heavily subsidized by
\nthe cellular network operators, who expect you to buy a new SIM
\ncard along with your phone. However, GSM providers also have the
\ncapability to block the IMEI code so a stolen handset cannot be
\nused with another SIM card, but they do not do this.<\/p>\n
Every digital phone has what is known as an IMEI, or
\nInternational Mobile Equipment Identification number, which is
\n"burned into" the phone's electronic circuitry. This IMEI number
\nforms part of the phone's "signature" over the airwaves and can
\nbe traced by the network. This means that even with a different
\nSIM card inside the phone, the phone's IMEI still identifies the
\nphone's new user in much the same way as car registrations are
\nmatched with engine numbers to track stolen cars.<\/p>\n
The 15-digit IMEI number is a unique identifier for your
\nhandset and is usually printed on the back of the phone, beneath
\nthe battery. Some phones will even display your IMEI number on
\nyour screen when you dial *#06#.<\/p>\n
However, organized criminal rackets exist which specialize in
\nreplacing the IMEI microchip in stolen phones to make them
\ncompletely untraceable and to appear legitimate. It is a public
\nsecret you can change your cellular phone's IMEI number in a
\nmobile phone shop.<\/p>\n
If you are a postpaid subscriber, you can call your cellular
\nservice provider immediately after your phone is lost or stolen.
\nAs with credit cards, your provider will deactivate your cellular
\nphone number (SIM number, IMSI number and MSISDN) to prevent your
\naccount from being charged with fraudulent calls.<\/p>\n
Sorry folks, this does not work for the prepaid service. This
\nleads me to believe the network service providers are not serious
\nin combating cellular phone theft, especially for prepaid card
\nsubscribers.<\/p>\n
However, there is still one alternative to combat the thieves.
\nThe solution is to use the Internet to activate the SMS alert on
\nyour stolen cellular phone. Thus, every time the user of your
\nstolen SIM card powers on, a message will pop up informing them
\nthe SIM card is stolen and should be returned to you or the
\npolice. Undelivered SMS messages will always try to reach the
\ndestination number.<\/p>\n
You need to connect to the Internet only once to set up the
\nSMS alert, and you can decide what text message will appear, how
\nmany times a day and at what time. The real beauty is that only
\nyou can switch off the SMS alert, because this free Internet
\nservice is password-protected. Although the SMS messages can be
\ndeleted from phone card's memory, it will always pop up again.<\/p>\n
The thief cannot sell the stolen SIM card, because the buyer
\nwill know that it is stolen.<\/p>\n
I will take you through the process of setting up an SMS alert
\nfor your phone, with the help of two free services, Quios
\nWireless Service (www.quios.com) and Jaytu Technologies
\n(www.memotome.com). Before I begin, it would be better if you
\nhave already tried and succeeded in using e-mail alert
\nnotification via SMS (my previous article).<\/p>\n
One of Quios' free services is Quios Mobile Email (Q-Mail). Q-
\nMail is a service that allows you to receive an alert on your
\nmobile phone when an e-mail is sent to you. When you register,
\nyou automatically receive an e-mail forwarding your account with
\nyour Quios ID. So, for example, if your Quios ID is "john", your
\ne-mail forwarding address will be john@quios.com. Don't forget to
\nmake sure the Q-Mail Notification is on.<\/p>\n
When someone sends an e-mail to your Quios account (e.g.
\njohn@quios.com), an alert is sent to your mobile phone to let you
\nknow that an e-mail has arrived. The alert displays the name of
\nthe sender and the subject of the e-mail. If the subject is too
\nlong for one SMS message, then you will receive additional SMS
\nmessages.<\/p>\n
Memo To Me is a free, e-mail based, reminder service that
\nallows you to specify one-time or recurring events and
\nautomatically reminds you of them using e-mail. You should
\nregister first to use this free e-mail reminder service, then you
\nwill receive a password that you can use when you want to set up
\nyour reminder list. You can choose one-time, daily, weekly,
\nmonthly and yearly reminders.<\/p>\n
Here is how it works, at least the nontechnological part of
\nit. When you register at Memo To Me, you should use the Quios e-
\nmail address as your legitimate e-mail address, thus every
\nreminder e-mail alert will be sent to your Quois e-mail. Of
\ncourse, your Quios e-mail address is associated with the stolen
\ncellular phone number.<\/p>\n
You can type in as the subject of an e-mail reminder something
\nlike: "This is a stolen SIM card, immediately call the police or
\nthe true owner of the card, John, at xxxxxxx."<\/p>\n
It would be better if you sent the reminder at every hour each
\nday, so the chances are better that every time the stolen SIM
\ncard is activated there will be an incoming SMS message.<\/p>\n
The thief cannot sell the stolen SIM card, because the buyer
\nwill know that it is a stolen card. With nothing else to do, it
\nis possible, somewhat, that the thief will call you to return the
\nstolen SIM card.<\/p>\n
After that you can terminate the reminder list at Memo To Me,
\nwhich is an associated link between Quios e-mail address and the
\nstolen SIM card.<\/p>\n
A last message from me: Your SIM card is an essential part of
\nyour GSM network service, so please take care of it.<\/p>",
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