NCJ Number
175747
Journal
Gazette Volume: 60 Issue: Dated: Pages: (September/October 1998)-63
Date Published
1998
Length
11 pages
Annotation
This article provides an overview of the structure and activities (particularly drug dealing) of Asian crime organizations in Canada and the difficulties law enforcement agencies have in investigating their crimes.
Abstract
Large cellular telephone companies experience millions in lost revenue each year through cellular telephone "cloning" and fraud. The success of any cellular telephone cloning or fraud investigation depends on the level of cooperation between the cellular telephone companies and the law enforcement agency. The author, a member of the Street Crime Unit of the Victoria Police Department (Canada), presents a case study of his unit's successful investigation of a facet of cellular phone fraud. The case involved a drug dealer whose network of communications was based in the use of cellular phones. Given the tremendous cost of legal cellular phone use under the drug dealer's volume of calls, the dealer sought to save money through an elaborate scheme to defraud the cellular phone companies. The investigation into the cellular phone fraud was successful and achieved the dismantling of the drug dealer's network of communications as well as his arrest for fraud. With the technology currently available, the use of a cloned or fraudulently obtained cellular telephone will have no expectation of privacy, making it an obvious source of incriminating information for law enforcement investigations.