TKJunkMail
Enjoy the sun
Premium
join:2002-03-03
Avalon, NJ
 ·Sprint Mobile Broa..
 ·Comcast
2 edits |  Telcos have no choice - can't block TRS
»FCC Warns Of IP Relay (TRS) Fraud
Of course the abuse of this system has been going on for a long time (we mentioned it back in 2004), in part because major telecom companies are paid close to $1.50 per minute by the FCC (read: the taxpayer) to carry the traffic. You blame the telcos, but they have no real options here. Any attempt to control, limit, or modify the TRS system would result in SCREAMS from all the disabled advocacy groups and lawsuits galore from their lawyers. So, the telcos are stuck in the middle in a no win situation. If they do something they get sued and get a PR black eye. If they don't do anything they are accused of profiting from fraud and get a PR black eye.
P.S.> I see the news item from the Baltimore Sun and the FCC don't blame the telcos in this, but the end user businesses for not verifying identity. The anti-telco angle is your spin on the matter.
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brooklynman4
join:2004-09-07
Brooklyn, NY | If someone invents something there is always flaw in it so its not they knew this already. |
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Megladon
@hoola.com
| reply to TKJunkMail
It is rediculous what they are charging the govt isnt it, regardless of what your thoughts are (pro telocom). At any rate, cant the phone companys that provide the service do some sort of self policing for what they're charging to atleast report something that could possibly be criminal activity to a govt agency? I would think that would protect everyones best interest. The service would remain intact, they can bilk the govt for millions, and criminals have a harder time useing bs credit cards |
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wruckman
Ruckman.net
join:2007-10-25
Northwood, OH | Iprelay troubles
HAHA! Who hasn't used IPRelay to make a funny on someone? But fraud...Not good. |
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jdjbuffalo
join:2004-01-17
Denver, CO
| reply to Megladon
Re: Telcos have no choice - can't block TRS
said by Megladon :
At any rate, cant the phone companys that provide the service do some sort of self policing for what they're charging to atleast report something that could possibly be criminal activity to a govt agency? I would think that would protect everyones best interest. The service would remain intact, they can bilk the govt for millions, and criminals have a harder time useing bs credit cards
The phone company can't police it because the person doing the translating is required by law to be basically nothing more than a "telephone line". This means that even if they are aware that fraud is occurring there is nothing they can do because it's a private conversation which they are forbidden from getting involved in. It's the privacy protections we are supposed to have, were it not for the Warantless Wiretapping that the President is so fond of.
I've personally dealt with these scam artists several times before. And they will call up a business and ask for something specific. Often times the business won't have it. These people will keep asking for similar stuff until they find something you have and then they'll want to buy several thousand dollars worth, often times on separate credit cards.
If you ever get a call at your place of business from this service make sure you are immediately suspicious of the person's intentions unless you know that person. |
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gaforces
United We Stand, Divided We Fall
join:2002-04-07
Santa Cruz, CA | reply to TKJunkMail
If the gov't wanted to remedy the situation they would have done so already.
It's a TRAP!  |
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Camelot One
Premium,MVM
join:2001-11-21
Sarasota, FL
clubs:
| reply to jdjbuffalo
I've had them here too. Nothing quite as funny as a person calling through an operator to order $5,000 worth of Logitech speakers. 
It seems to me like the telco's could atleast make the effort to setup a passthrough caller ID. Sure it wouldn't solve the problem, and it's easy enough to get around, but its a start.
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SLD
Premium
join:2002-04-17
1 edit | reply to wruckman
Re: Iprelay troubles
Uh...me. I don't know *anybody* who has used this service in the way you just described. |
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Karl Bode
News Guy
join:2000-03-02 | »[it's cool] Poor IP Relay operators... |
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KrK
Heavy Artillery For The Little Guy
Premium
join:2000-01-17
Tulsa, OK
 ·AT&T Yahoo
·AT&T DSL Service
·Cox HSI
| Damn, server's down |
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SilenceGold
Premium
join:2003-07-31
Benton, AR
| reply to Karl Bode
I am disappointed to find out that some DSLR users find it amusing to abuse the services that are intended for hearing impaired users who need to make phone calls.
It is a huge waste of taypayers money every time an abuser uses the relay services. Soon, the text based IP relay services will disappear and video based IP relay will be the replacement.
To effectively abuse the video based IP relay services, knowledge of sign language is a requirement. |
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Sefirato
Turambar, Master of Fate
Premium
join:2002-05-08
Anchorage, AK
| said by SilenceGold  :To effectively abuse the video based IP relay services, knowledge of sign language is a requirement. Yeah, and I tend to abuse them a lot in the last 2 years! Fortunately for me, I'm getting an upgraded videophone equipment this week from Sorenson VRS, wheee!
Anyway, I haven't really used IP Relay much except for incoming calls and they tend to suck in that regard anyway since most callers don't appear to want to leave a message when they attempt to call me. How it works, they call the number given to me by IP Relay, then IP Relay contacts me through AIM (or VP in some cases) to connect me to the caller. Often whenever someone calls and IP Relay contacts me on the AIM, they hang up before I could relay my message back. I wonder why, maybe it was because of these scammers? Hm.
Oh, and I'm deaf. |
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SilenceGold
Premium
join:2003-07-31
Benton, AR
| Deaf here too.
How are you doing the abusings? Or did you mean to say that you used them a lot in the last 2 years?
I use CSDVRS's call back feature. I'm given a 888 number and a hearing person can call my 888 number and it goes straight to my video phone. I have gotten several video messages when they don't get an answer. |
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Sefirato
Turambar, Master of Fate
Premium
join:2002-05-08
Anchorage, AK
| That sounds really nice. What I meant was that I used them a lot (maybe not enough though compared to some folks that I know) over the last 2 years. I received my first videophone in 2004. We're currently slated to receive our VP-200 this Thursday.
I do have a Call-back feature but not with CSDVRS though. Both of the call-back features are with IM-based relay services such as i711 and ip-relay.
When we get our VP-200, I'll be checking out more about the CSDVRS features and see how it will benefit us as we usually turn the VP-100 off for most of the day. |
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markosjal
join:2005-08-06
Mexico | Accomplices to Fraud
Very simple,
If the systems are being used for Fraud, and the telephone companies benefit from it, they are accomplices to the crime, if they are not taking active measures to prevent fraud over such systems. |
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birdfeedr
Premium,MVM
join:2001-08-11
Warwick, RI
 ·Verizon FIOS
| reply to KrK
Re: Iprelay troubles
said by KrK :Damn, server's down it looks like a domain squatter got pacoc.com, and phuzion.com does not resolve. The original thread is from 2004, which is prehistoric in internet years.  |
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nightwalker
Nightwalker
join:1999-08-07
Chicago, IL
4 edits | it's so easy to use
They make the service extremely user friendly, you can call in three languages (English, Spanish or French).
Overview: »www.nextel.com/en/solutions/rela···ex.shtml
Web: »www.sprintip.com/
AIM: sprintIP
I admit to using the service in the past, mainly when I was unable to place a voice call. My brother has used the service a couple of times, where he didn't have cellphone coverage, but had wifi access.
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LowRider
join:2006-06-23
Dallas, GA
·Charter Pipeline
| easy fix, if the purchase is over so much, the company needs to require a fax with credit card and drivers license. tel-cos can't and shouldn't be blamed. i still know this won't prevent all fraud since drivers license are stolen to, but usually credit cards are stolen by themselves and the license thrown out. if anything the company's taking the orders shouldn't do over the phone transactions. |
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alanhdsl
Premium
join:1999-10-09
Phoenix, AZ
·Qwest.net
| How does this work?
I can see two reasons for using relay rather than calling in the scam directly:
1. You don't have to pay long distance charges
2. You can disguise your caller id
I think there are plenty of ways to get around the caller ID problem, so the only real advantage I see is that it's cheaper for the scammer, particularly if they're outside the US.
I don't see how this is any more of a risk to businesses than scammers calling them directly. A scammer could read off a stolen credit card number just as easily as the relay operator. I would think that the business would take the normal precautions when taking an order, regardless of the source. How is a relayed call more of a risk? |
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james
join:2001-02-26
antarctica | reply to Sefirato
Re: Iprelay troubles
What happens if you're blind and deaf? I wonder if they have some sort of braile or tactile communications device. |
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