A Good Deed Gone Bad

Sep 1, 2008 12:00 PM, By Lynnette Luna

The FCC, public-safety agencies and 911 technology vendors are scrambling to figure out what to do about the avalanche of fraudulent emergency calls coming from donated wireless phones.

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When the Federal Communications Commission crafted rules for enhanced 911 services for mobile phones in 1996, it also required wireless carriers, for safety reasons, to transmit all wireless 911 calls — regardless of whether the phone dialing 911 has a service contract attached to it.

The practice, however, has turned into a nightmare for the nation's public-safety answering points (PSAPs). Fraudsters have figured out that these non-initialized phones can be used to dial 911 as long as the devices have a working battery. The phones can't be traced because they aren't connected to any service provider and therefore don't provide public safety with automatic number identification (ANI) and callback features. Such calls are clogging up the nation's 911 systems.

Various surveys of PSAPs show the extent of the problem. In 2006, PSAPs in Tennessee reported more than 10,000 fraudulent 911 calls from non-initialized phones in a period of three months. In Florida, several PSAPs reported about 8400 fraudulent calls from such phones in just one month.

There are many reasons for why these calls are being made, the experts say. Some people simply like to send police and fire personnel on wild goose chases. Others enjoy the mayhem they create when they waste 911 call-takers' time.

Many of these calls are from repeat callers, and a surprising number are from children. Parents and grandparents sometimes place older wireless phones in the hands of children as pseudo toys. When they do, the kids sometimes dial 911 by accident. When they discover that the call actually went through, they keep dialing. The fact that the call can't be traced is another motivating factor.

One PSAP in Maury County, Tenn., reported several instances of children making harassing 911 calls from non-initialized handsets. One child called the PSAP 84 times on a Saturday night, nearly immobilizing the PSAP's ability to respond to real emergencies.

According to Richard Taylor, president of the National Association of State 911 Administrators (NASNA), the number of fraudulent calls from non-initialized handsets may be even higher than those reported because it's difficult for PSAPs to track these calls when they are dealing with real emergencies. But everyone in the 911 sector agrees that these calls pose a significant problem, he said.

“Most of the percentages I've seen show that less than 3% of calls coming from these phones are legitimate,” Taylor said. “That leads to the question: What is the purpose of allowing these calls?”