Patent ID: 6058301
Filing Date: 2000-05-02
Classification: H04W

Abstract:
A method for preventing roaming fraud in a cellular telephone system, comprising the steps of:(a) receiving a request to authorize a call attempt by a cellular phone in a foreign service area;(b) determining whether the call attempt by the cellular phone exceeds a roaming privilege of the cellular phone, the determining step comprising the step of checking a database stored in a data storage device to determine the roaming privilege of the cellular phone, the database comprising a Home Locator Register (HLR) for storing roaming information for subscribers of the home service area;(c) authenticating the cellular phone using secondary identification data when the call attempt exceeds the roaming privilege for the cellular phone; and(d) authorizing the call attempt by the cellular phone in the foreign service area when a proper response is provided by the cellular phone at the authenticating step.