The Tracfone Trap Written by: The Clone Date: March 20, 2001 *% Introduction *% Tracfone Trap *% Technical Notes *% TracFone TOS *% Tracfone Complaints *% TrapFone Dot Com *% Conclusion *% Contact - Introduction - What is TracFone? TracFone is a wireless phone company in partnership with Telefonica de Mexico based out of Orlando Florida which offers 'Nation-wide Pre-paid service' (a partnership with Verizon Wireless) which bills your analog phone on a "pay as you go" basis, letting you control your own costs as you need them. With TracFone there are no credit checks, no contracts, no age limits, and no costly cellular phone bills. What makes TracFone such a unique pre-paid wireless company is that on the phones' themselves is a time-counter that keeps track of the minutes you use, by sending a real-time roaming update to the closest b-side wireless carrier and then eventually to Verizon wireless who perform the necessary updates. For example; if you are roaming on TracFone while in Edmonton Alberta Canada, your ESN/NAM header information will be sent to Telus Mobility's Home Location Register (HLR) system which recognizes the account, processes it, and from there it immediately diverts it to Verizon. - TracFone Trap - TracFone Incorporated currently offers two analog Nokia model phones to its customers: the Nokia 252, and the Nokia 918. Both models are sleek and fully loaded with features that make using these products enjoyable. -NAM PROGRAMMING- Unfortunately, TracFone has really limited its customers freedom by putting a limit on what other numbers - but specifically what other carriers can be programmed into the phones NAM memory bank by locking the first A-side SID. The truth is customers do not have the ability to program other numbers into the phone AT ALL, meaning you're stuck having only one account on one phone; that being the TracFone account on the TracFone phone! The NAM memory bank looks something like this: (1st) phone # - 666-313-3370 (1st) SID - 0 (A-side) (2nd) phone # - [blank] (2nd) SID - 1 (B-side) On the attempt to program the second memory bank you'll get the following: "Location NAM error" Lets say you successfully hacked the NAM programming menu code for the phone... couldn't be too tough if you consider all the available web-sites and mailing- lists on the Internet that focus on just that... ie. (list) gsm_underground@yahoogroups.com (site) http://www.hackcanada.com/ice3/cellular/index.html (site) http://www.nettwerked.net/TFA/cell.html Now to take advantage of the hack you would be required to have firstly broken the NAM programming menu code, followed by entering in the exact same account information (phone # and SID) that appears in the first memory bank into the second memory bank. By roaming on the B-side you are likely to get lots of extra time even AFTER the TracFone's unit-counter time runs out because it can take from several days to a few weeks for the header info (ESN/MIN/NAM) to be sent from say Telus or Rogers/AT&T to Verizon and then finally to TracFone's HLR provisioning system for "current account updates". After this time, the TracFone's unit-counter will realize the customers account is out of air-time and will finally boot them off the network until the phone is re-filled. What else sucks about TracFone? - There is no way to buy phone units online with a credit card; only through an authorized retailers. - Finding authorized retailers in Canada is one thing, but finding a retailer at all that will accept Canadian dollars and Canadian addresses is another thing. - The web-forms on tracfone.com do not accept Canadian addresses (ie. 12274-123st Edmonton Alberta Canada, T5X-2R9) - If you wanted to change your account information, you would be required to mail your Nokia analog to TracFone (you pay the shipping fees) to be reset... for a fee of $75.00/USD. Call 509-710-4619 for more information. - TracFone will not let you receive calls when on roaming due to the carrier and number assignment. The message the person who's calling your roaming TracFone will hear is Verizon's "unable to reach subscriber" message - this was verified by calling a roaming TracFone from a Telus landline. - Technical Notes - (note: The Nokia 252 is virtually the same as the Nokia 918 in respects to programming, so don't fret my pets.) Technical specifications on the Nokia 918 model phones offered by TracFone Incorporated can be read at this site: http://www.nettwerked.net/nokia_918.txt - Terms and Conditions of Service: Upon activation of cellular radio service ("Service"), customer ("You") agrees to the following terms and conditions: To maintain TRACFONE cellular service and keep the local phone number, purchase and activate a 30, 100, or 260 unit prepaid cellular card every 60 days or a 10 unit card every 30 days. You may purchase as many TRACFONE Prepaid Cellular Phone Cards as you want. TRACFONE will display the due date reminder every time you turn your phone on. If you do not purchase, and redeem, at least one TRACFONE Prepaid Cellular Phone Card within 30 or 60 days of initial programming and set-up, the Service will be suspended. You can reactivate your Service by purchasing and redeeming a TRACFONE Prepaid Cellular Card; however, a different phone number will likely be assigned. You (the customer) have no property interest or other proprietary interest in any telephone access number assigned. Each card redeemed will extend service by 30 or 60 days from the date of redemption, depending on the card value. Any and all tampering or falsification or entering of codes not properly authorized by TRACFONE may result in immediate discontinuance of Service and prosecution to the full extend of the law. TRACFONE reserves the right to cancel any Service without notice. - TracFone complaints: The following are a few examples of horror stories that current and former TracFone customers have written about over the last four months: (taken from http://www.bitchaboutit.com/ReadPages/telephone_complaints.htm) Date: 04 Jan 2001 Tracfone, the biggest joke I have ever heard of! I have been trying for four unsuccessful weeks to contact them to activate this phone that they screwed up. After being disconnected over 100 times I got mad enough to just let it alone. They told me the hold time was 94 minutes! I work customer service too and that is unacceptable! This company is going to get a piece of my mind if I ever get a person on the phone. They sure do have excuses though! Heard em all so far! - Christina Hull, MD Date: 04 Jan 2001 I purchased a Tracfone on December 12th, for my boyfriend for his birthday. I had it "activated" on December 21st. After 3 days the phone still did not work, so I called back. After 5 or 6 calls and 2 hours on hold, I reached a "technician" who "reprogrammed" the phone. He then performed a "test call" and the phone didn't work. So he asked me a couple of questions and I am mid-sentence and next thing I know I am back at square one, waiting on hold again for "an estimated wait time of 45 minutes." 3 days later I waited another 45 minutes, this time late at night, and reached someone who again "reprogrammed" the phone and assured me that whomever I spoke with previously did not program it right. It has now been a week since that call and still the phone does not work. I've been trying to call for about 4 days now, and you can't even wait on hold anymore, they tell you to wait 60 minutes and call back. Please do not purchase this phone, it is a real hassle. There are many other pre-paid cellulars out there - buy one from a company with a local office where you can go and get decent service. I will be returning my Tracfone this weekend - thank God I saved the receipt. - Jodi Rapes, MI Date: 02 Jan 2001 Tracfone has the worst customer service I have ever experienced in my life. I will take every chance to steer possible customers away from buying into this piece of doodoo service. If you call the 1-800 # then you better bring the book War and Peace while you wait for service. You will make it cover to cover and then some. - Mark Vatcher, NH Date: 26 Dec 2000 I bought a tracfone (prepaid cellular service) from Wal mart after I had visited Tracfone's web site. On the site They say: Instant activation or in 24 hours in some areas. It is now 4 days and in a few hours 5 days after over 100 phone call attempts, busy signals, excuses etc. claiming the christmas rush, then blaming southwest bell and one excuse after another my #$%$*&@#% phone is still not activated!!! I see you have another complaint on this site for TracFone. Their # is 800-867-7183 - Brent Gould, MO - TrapFone Dot Com - 'TRAPFONE' Still undergoing major construction, TRAPFONE is a site for the wireless phreak to spread knowledge about the technical infrastructure of TRACFONE's analog cross-country cellular network, but mainly as a place for irate (former) customers to rant about why they think the service TRACFONE offers just plain sucks. http://www.trapfone.com - Conclusion - There you have it folks; TRACFONE Wireless Incorporated is a trap sucking unsuspecting customers into its us-only plan through carefully crafted advertising / hardware programming techniques, and have THE worst pre-paid cellular customer service in the world. I advise that you let all your friends and family know about this deceitful company so they won't be lured into the tracfone trap either. Too many people have been hurt already by this company... it's time we all take a stand and run these guys out of business once and for all. - Credits - I'd like to give credit to Alan (780) for his story and support while working on the development of this article. Contact - You can contact me by; e-mail: theclone@hackcanada.com irc: irc.h410g3n.com (#hackcanada) url: www.nettwerked.net