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September 02, 2004

Where greed and public safety diverge

I don't know how simple this software is, but assuming the phone companies have some basic safeguards to prevent spoofing, this application seems to offer con artists (and much worse) the perfect way to fool people. Just because it's not against the law yet, doesn't mean it's right to let them do it. Link via P6.

The service, the first commercial version of a technology known mainly among software programmers and the computer-hacker underground until now, was introduced nationwide on Wednesday by a California company called Star38.

For $19.99 a month and as little as 7 cents a minute, customers can go to the company's Web site (www.star38.com), log in and then type the number that they want to call and the number that they want to appear on the caller ID screen of the recipient's phone.

For an additional fee, they can also specify names that can appear along with their telephone numbers.

Not that criminals need any help:

Jury convicts `Fantasy Man' in rape cases

Nashville, Tenn. (AP) The "Fantasy Man" faces as long as 30 years in prison after a jury convicted him of tricking women into having sex blindfolded by telling each one he was her boyfriend. Businessman Raymond Mitchell, 45, was convicted Thursday of rape by fraud and attempted rape by fraud. He will be sentenced in March. The defence said the women agreed to have sex. Prosecutors said Mitchell called hundreds of women over the years, most of whom hung up on him. Of the 30 women who reported encounters with him to police, eight said they had sex with the caller. One woman said she had sex with "Fantasy Man" twice a week for two months in 1992 because she thought he was her boyfriend. She said she discovered he wasn't when her blindfold slipped off. Mitchell was convicted in the early morning sexual encounters with two women and of attempting sex with a third woman who realized she was being duped in time to lock the man out of her room. Each instance began with a phone call to the sleeping women and a whispered voice. He said he was their boyfriend [by name] and asked them to fulfill his fantasy of having sex with a blindfolded woman. Defense lawyer Edward Fowlkes said in his closing argument that the women agreed to act out the sexual fantasies Mitchell suggested. "How do you spell consent?" Fowlkes asked the jury. "Talk dirty 20 or 30 minutes on the phone, that's how." Fowlkes argued the women knew they were engaging in sex play with a stranger, but called police later for some reason. Fowlkes said he will appeal the decision, "but that's still down the road."

Given the availability of prepaid debit cards and other methods of electronic payment for using services like Star 38 anonymously, watch for more cases like this, although I hope most will only involve petty fraud, not sadistic impersonation and rape.

Posted by Mike at September 2, 2004 06:27 PM

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