GILL Technologies calls on CRTC to regulate telecom fraud

GILL Technologies, a Peterborough, ON-based telecom consulting company, says the CRTC must protect consumers instead of allowing carriers to inflict fraud-generated fees on victims. In a Sept. 21 letter, company president George Gill asks the regulator to investigate the issue and develop new regulations. Under the current system, responsibility for fraudulent use usually lies with the end user. On January 2009, Gill says Burlington, ON law firm Martin and Hillyer suffered a $207,000 bill from Bell due to voice mail hacking from abroad. In August, he says boutique telecom wholesaler Telepath incurred over $100,000 in charges from Rogers over a similar attack. In both cases, he says the carriers demanded to be paid despite the illegal, invasive cause of these bills. In his letter to the CRTC, Gill notes: “Beyond basic, user-centric precautions such as strong passwords, responsibility for secure telecommunications obviously rests with carriers. Under the current regime, carriers suffer a conflict of interest where preventing fraud denies them charges to levy against end users. In other words, the CRTC’s failure to regulate in this area rewards carriers for inadequate security. Currently, there’s no difference between a dollar earned on third party fraud and one earned through legitimate services. “The current system doesn’t work. Informal resolution mechanisms waste time and money. In many cases, they don’t adequately protect end users,” he adds. GILL is asking the commission to: 1. Regulate carrier security practices 2. Establish reasonable limits on end user and reseller liabilities for fraudulent charges 3. Implement a dispute resolution system that investigates and fairly distributes fraudulent charges based on each party's actual responsibilities.

GILL Technologies calls on CRTC to regulate telecom fraud

Brief | October 5, 2009

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