Shame on Rogers Communications:

Terror group cloned cellphones of Rogers execs

From Sympatico / MSN : News : CTV.ca

Updated Sun. Dec. 18 2005 8:54 AM ET

CTV.ca News Staff

A group linked to terrorist organization Hezbollah has cloned the cellphones of Rogers Communications executives, including that of CEO Ted Rogers, The Globe and Mail reported Saturday.

Cloning involves duplicating a cellphone's number and encrypted security code.

The story came to light after law professor Susan Drummond returned from a month-long trip abroad, only to find her Rogers cellphone bill was more than $12,000, The Globe reported.

The Rogers Wireless bill listed more than 300 calls made in the month of August, some to foreign countries, including Pakistan, Libya, Syria, India and Russia.

When Drummond called about the bill, she was told she would have to pay it -- and that prompted her and her partner, Harry Gefen, to begin researching the cellphone giant.

In September, Gefen attended the Toronto Fraud Forum -- an annual conference for security experts -- where he spoke to Cindy Hopper, a manager in Rogers security department.

She told him that terror groups had repeatedly cloned cellphones of Rogers executives to make thousands of calls overseas, The Globe reported.

Hopper also said terror groups had identified Rogers executives as perfect targets because the company would be reluctant to shut off their phones due to inconvenience to busy executives.

Gefen, who is a technology journalist, tape recorded his conversation with Hopper, who did not know he was an aggrieved customer, according to The Globe.

Based on that interview, Drummond is considering legal action against Rogers. She claims that Rogers can spot a fraud-in-progress, and yet does not shut down the phones.

Rogers has automated security systems alerting them to radical changes in calling patterns, Hopper reportedly told Geffen.