Canadian phone companies accomplices in terror

A recent lawsuit in Canada shows the way terrorists use phone fraud to conduct business, with the help of Canadian phone companies.

Ms. Drummond, who had just returned from a month-long trip to Israel, went numb as she looked at the stupefying figure, which was more than 160 times higher than her typical monthly bill of about $75. The Rogers Wireless bill included a five-page list of calls charged to her phone, almost all of them to foreign countries that included Pakistan, Libya, Syria, India and Russia.

Ms. Drummond quickly determined what had happened: Someone had stolen her phone while she was away. She called Rogers Wireless, which told her there was nothing it could do, and she would have to pay the entire amount.

Since making that call to Rogers last August, Ms. Drummond and her partner, Harry Gefen, have been researching the cellphone giant, yielding some unexpected discoveries, among them that the phones of senior Rogers executives, including Mr. Rogers himself, were repeatedly “cloned” by terrorist groups that used them to make thousands of overseas calls.

Rogers Wireless didn't shut off her phone, despite having an automated system to do exactly that, enabling them to have higher profits. However, by not shutting down Drummond's phone, by keeping silent when their own phones are cloned, Rogers Wireless are knowingly aiding a terrorist organization!

Shouldn't the Canadian government be investigating this issue, instead of letting its citizens fend for themselves by taking the big companies to court?

Source: The Globe and Mail (English)

No comments: