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American Morning

Cell Phone Cloning: Legitimate, Fraudulent Cells Have Same Number

Aired May 27, 2003 - 07:41   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Cell phone cloning. Now those are three dirty words in the ever-changing world of wireless communications these days. Industry officials estimate that subscriber fraud costs cell phone carriers more than $150 million a year. So, how do these high-tech thieves clone a phone these days? And what can you do to keep them from getting your number?
Legal analyst Alex Wellen specializes in high-tech security issues, and he's with us this morning from San Francisco.

Good to see you. Thank you for coming out and talking to us bright and early out in San Francisco this morning.

ALEX WELLEN, HIGH-TECH LEGAL ANALYST: Thank you very much.

HARRIS: How are these guys doing it these days? I understand that the technology has changed quite a bit.

WELLEN: It has. I mean, the good news is that, you know, 5-10 years ago it was awful. In the '90s everybody had analog signals, and they were cloning them with all kinds of devices very quickly. But these days most people have digital signals or at least dual-band, and that's a plus, because the digital signal is much, much safer.

The problem comes, of course, with roaming, because you go in certain places where your service may not cover, you switch into roaming automatically, which is an analog signal now, and it may not even tell you the phone, and you find yourself susceptible to the bad guy.

HARRIS: Is there any way at all the technology can actually help the consumer? And, like, for instance, is there any way -- is anybody even working on a phone that would tell you when your number is being cloned or something like that?

WELLEN: You know, the good news is, again, that so little of it is happening these days as far as analog signals are concerned. Your phone can indicate to you when you're going into a roaming region. That's one of the first things you need to know. I mean, just the knowledge that most phones are digital...

HARRIS: Yes.

WELLEN: ... and it is very difficult to clone a phone -- and we can talk about what that means -- but clone a phone in digital. And as far as, you know, indicating whether your phone is being cloned or not, well, it happens so little that you should just be checking your records any time your phone clicks into that analog signal, or you go on a trip somewhere and the signal is just automatically going over to that side of it.

HARRIS: Now, I want to see what you've got. You brought in some examples of the kind of equipment that's being used right now to steal people's numbers. Now, what is this right here?

WELLEN: OK. So, there -- now, this is from the New York Electronic Crimes Task Force. They're part of the U.S. Secret Service. All of this stuff, Leon, is confiscated, it's contraband. You can't possess it, you can't manufacture it, you can't own it, you can't use it. But that looks like a day planner, right?

HARRIS: Yes.

WELLEN: Now it's open. And inside it looks similar to a day planner, but what's been pulled out is a circuit, which is called an ESN reader. In your cell phone are two numbers. The ESN, which is like the serial number, and the MIN, which is your phone number. And what this device does is pull out of thin air those two pairs when it's on analog signal.

HARRIS: Because actually your phone sends that information out every time you turn it on, correct?

WELLEN: Exactly. So, pulling out of the air is that ESN reader, they could get -- I don't know -- thousands of pairs in a matter of minutes with that device.

HARRIS: All right, so how do you protect yourself from something like that being used on your phone?

WELLEN: Well, you know, one of the good things to think about is you should, again, keep in mind that those pairs can be taken out of thin air, but when it's in digital mode it won't happen. So, keep an eye on when your phone switches to analog.

But here's the real problem, Leon. Often, the way that these numbers are being stolen is not out of thin air, but instead physically. You put your phone down, you go to the bathroom or whatever the case is, at a restaurant. And what happens? Somebody takes off the battery, pulls out the ESN, the serial number, and then has your pair, whether you're digital or whether you're analog. At that point it doesn't matter, because they can get both numbers.

So, the two things to keep in mind there is, one, physically keep a hold on your cell phone, and, two, keep an eye on when your phone switches from digital to analog.

HARRIS: That's a good one.

WELLEN: Yes.

HARRIS: That's good advice there, because I can't tell you how many times I've left my phone laying around like that. Alex Wellen, thank you very much. Appreciate the good information this morning.

WELLEN: Thank you.

HARRIS: All right, take care.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.





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Aired May 27, 2003 - 07:41   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Cell phone cloning. Now those are three dirty words in the ever-changing world of wireless communications these days. Industry officials estimate that subscriber fraud costs cell phone carriers more than $150 million a year. So, how do these high-tech thieves clone a phone these days? And what can you do to keep them from getting your number?
Legal analyst Alex Wellen specializes in high-tech security issues, and he's with us this morning from San Francisco.

Good to see you. Thank you for coming out and talking to us bright and early out in San Francisco this morning.

ALEX WELLEN, HIGH-TECH LEGAL ANALYST: Thank you very much.

HARRIS: How are these guys doing it these days? I understand that the technology has changed quite a bit.

WELLEN: It has. I mean, the good news is that, you know, 5-10 years ago it was awful. In the '90s everybody had analog signals, and they were cloning them with all kinds of devices very quickly. But these days most people have digital signals or at least dual-band, and that's a plus, because the digital signal is much, much safer.

The problem comes, of course, with roaming, because you go in certain places where your service may not cover, you switch into roaming automatically, which is an analog signal now, and it may not even tell you the phone, and you find yourself susceptible to the bad guy.

HARRIS: Is there any way at all the technology can actually help the consumer? And, like, for instance, is there any way -- is anybody even working on a phone that would tell you when your number is being cloned or something like that?

WELLEN: You know, the good news is, again, that so little of it is happening these days as far as analog signals are concerned. Your phone can indicate to you when you're going into a roaming region. That's one of the first things you need to know. I mean, just the knowledge that most phones are digital...

HARRIS: Yes.

WELLEN: ... and it is very difficult to clone a phone -- and we can talk about what that means -- but clone a phone in digital. And as far as, you know, indicating whether your phone is being cloned or not, well, it happens so little that you should just be checking your records any time your phone clicks into that analog signal, or you go on a trip somewhere and the signal is just automatically going over to that side of it.

HARRIS: Now, I want to see what you've got. You brought in some examples of the kind of equipment that's being used right now to steal people's numbers. Now, what is this right here?

WELLEN: OK. So, there -- now, this is from the New York Electronic Crimes Task Force. They're part of the U.S. Secret Service. All of this stuff, Leon, is confiscated, it's contraband. You can't possess it, you can't manufacture it, you can't own it, you can't use it. But that looks like a day planner, right?

HARRIS: Yes.

WELLEN: Now it's open. And inside it looks similar to a day planner, but what's been pulled out is a circuit, which is called an ESN reader. In your cell phone are two numbers. The ESN, which is like the serial number, and the MIN, which is your phone number. And what this device does is pull out of thin air those two pairs when it's on analog signal.

HARRIS: Because actually your phone sends that information out every time you turn it on, correct?

WELLEN: Exactly. So, pulling out of the air is that ESN reader, they could get -- I don't know -- thousands of pairs in a matter of minutes with that device.

HARRIS: All right, so how do you protect yourself from something like that being used on your phone?

WELLEN: Well, you know, one of the good things to think about is you should, again, keep in mind that those pairs can be taken out of thin air, but when it's in digital mode it won't happen. So, keep an eye on when your phone switches to analog.

But here's the real problem, Leon. Often, the way that these numbers are being stolen is not out of thin air, but instead physically. You put your phone down, you go to the bathroom or whatever the case is, at a restaurant. And what happens? Somebody takes off the battery, pulls out the ESN, the serial number, and then has your pair, whether you're digital or whether you're analog. At that point it doesn't matter, because they can get both numbers.

So, the two things to keep in mind there is, one, physically keep a hold on your cell phone, and, two, keep an eye on when your phone switches from digital to analog.

HARRIS: That's a good one.

WELLEN: Yes.

HARRIS: That's good advice there, because I can't tell you how many times I've left my phone laying around like that. Alex Wellen, thank you very much. Appreciate the good information this morning.

WELLEN: Thank you.

HARRIS: All right, take care.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.





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