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MCI Accused of Long-Distance Call Accounting Fraud
drcobb writes "According to the New York Times, MCI is under investigation again. This time for spoofing SS7 point codes to avoid paying access tariffs.
Federal prosecutors have opened an investigation in the United States and Canada into accusations that MCI, the nation's second-largest long-distance carrier, defrauded other telephone companies of at least hundreds of millions of dollars over nearly a decade, people involved in the inquiry said."
This is off their web site:
Value. Simplicity. Innovation.
Better:
Slamming. Theives. Liars.
You can't legislate goodness. Let each to his own destiny, by will of his freely made choices.
So does this make MCI the most successfull hardcore Pheaker in history?
What would ss7 spoofer be called? A plaid box?
This is somewhat off topic, but only somewhat, ...
I want to ditch my local carriers entirely. They are too expensive by far and it's a monopoly I don't like (SBC.)
I want a cell phone as big as a class touchtone phone. Big buttons that my kids can use. A devoted 911 button. Real big phone. Weighs a few pounds. So big that you can't toss a book on top of it. It plugs into the wall for power. It's big and has a the best sound quality. And it has a built-in super duper antenna so that it always has five bars of reception.
Now it would be even better if it could share the same number as half a dozen other cell phones. When one rings, they all ring. It wonderful if I could stick a fax or modem jack into it.
Why can't I get that?
Yes and yes. Companies today are being managed by MBAs who don't know a fucking shit about the way business actually works, all they know about is "administration". MBAs never get into the detais, they only think in the big picture. If it isn't shown in power-point slides, then it doesn't exist. If fraud wasn't in the business plan, or if it wasn't mentioned by the marketing consultants, it doesn't exist.
Nothing says "News for Nerds" like "accussed of accounting fraud", this just seems like news for some other site to me...
Onward to the Aether Sphere!
I always thought that the evil greed was with Worldcom, not MCI. From reading the article, it sounds like this started with MCI long before the merger. I was hopeing it was one of the other companies Worldcom of Borg assimilated. Wiltel or MFS or someone else.
I understand how this must look to the general public. But I can tell you, if you were in my shoes, you'd do exactly the same. Keeping up with the Joneses in my neigborhood gets very expensive and I've got three kids all looking to go to Ivy League colleges. The bonuses I raked in for this scheme were more than enough to cover this and put a new down payment on a beautiful home in White Plains. What are you doing to ensure your family prospers?
<a href="http://www.joblessjimmy.com">Work is dumb and so is Jobless Jimmy.</a>
The Bush goverment is just persecuting MCI for political reason. Their narrow-minded morale doesn't allow any creative accounting and business methods.
It's time for all accounting nerd to stand up and show their support !
First, we need some "free MCI Worldcom" bumper stickers and t-shirts. This wouldn't of course have any effect on the lawsuit, but we'll feel all great and warm inside.
We might also organize some protests in Washington nobody notices.
And when the MCI management comes out of prison we can all rush to buy their new book "Art of Fraud: Controlling the human element of accounting".
Owner of a Mensa membership card.
Jusr goes to show what all those phone phreaks from the 1980's did when they grew up. I wonder if Cap'n Crunch works for MCI now.
You are in a maze of twisty little passages, all alike.
Hmmm... What's the difference?
"39cents + 3cents/minute, anywhere in the US to anywhere in the US or western Europa ."
Jesus Christ! Only $0.39 to talk to someone on a Jovian moon? Why hasn't NASA signed up for this?
I guess they make up their money by charging you for the minutes taken up by the light lag.
This article has funny timing for me, since I had just dealt with MCI's fraud protection (I think that's what it was called) department a little under a month ago.
I moved into an apartment after graduation, and tried to get phone service from another phone company, but MCI still had their service on the phone line from the previous tenant. They denied responsibility for the phone line, saying they had cancelled it.
A few long distance phone calls with no one to bill finally got their attention. Idiots....
1) Inflate earnings
2) Falsify expenses
3) Slam 'n Cram Customers
4) Cheat business partners
5) Profit!!!
Looking back, was the monolithic monopoly of the Bell System REALLY that bad?