The Virginian-Pilot 
                            THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT  
              Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Saturday, March 30, 1996               TAG: 9603300419
SECTION: BUSINESS                 PAGE: D1   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: BY STEPHANIE STOUGHTON, STAFF WRITER 
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH                     LENGTH: Short :   43 lines

CELL-PHONE PROVIDERS FIGHTERS PIRATES

With cellular phone fraud, it's almost as if telephone numbers are stolen out of thin air - or airwaves, to be more exact.

``We call people every day,'' said Carla Ussery, general manager of GTE Mobilnet in Virginia Beach. ``We have a detection system, so we usually know before the customers know.''

Now, GTE Mobilnet has a new weapon against cellular phone fraud: a personal identification number, or PIN, to protect customers when they make calls in high-fraud markets like New York City and Washington.

GTE Mobilnet announced its PIN protection earlier this month. It covers the Hampton Roads market in addition to the high-fraud areas. 360 Communications said it plans to test its own PIN within the next several months.

The PIN helps when a customer is ``roaming,'' or out of GTE Mobilnet's territory and in another cell-phone company's area. To use the PIN, customers simply enter the telephone number, press the SEND button and then enter their PIN.

GTE Mobilnet and other providers are introducing PINs because cell-phone piracy is steadily increasing. Those companies lose about $1.3 million a day to cell-phone fraud.

The scheme, which is more common in big cities, works like this:

Pirates cruise the airwaves, using electronic devices to capture the electronic serial numbers of cell-phone users. They program those serial numbers into their own phones. Then, the thieves make their calls.

``More people are trying to take advantage of it,'' said Bob Sage, general manager of 360 Communications, formerly Sprint Cellular, in Virginia Beach.

The victims don't pay for the fraudulent calls, which can add up to a few dollars or a few thousand dollars. The cell-phone services generally pick up the bills, but the costs of combating fraud may be spread out later in the form of higher rates for all customers.

KEYWORDS: CELLUAR PHONE by CNB