Patent ID: 8010083

Claim:
A method of identifying cloned identifiers comprising: receiving a first identifier relating to the identity of a communication device and a second identifier relating to the identity of a subscriber at the time of a connection attempt to a network; and determining whether one of the identifiers has been cloned, the determination being made in part through information obtained from a connection history database, and in part through information obtained from a network element, in which the connection history database stores previously received first and second identifiers, and in which determining whether one of the identifiers has been cloned comprises determining whether the first identifier has been cloned, the method further comprising: determining from the connection history database whether the received first identifier has previously attempted to connect to the network with a number of second identifiers other than the received second identifier, and where it is so determined, obtaining those other second identifiers, and determining from the network element whether any of the other second identifiers are currently connected to the network.