A British Columbia cell phone service is witnessing an alarming increase in the number of individuals falling victim to fraudsters selling used, blacklisted cell phones shortly before or after a sale and disabling the phone’s ability to pick up cellular service in Canada.

Many sellers of used cell phones are submitting fraudulent insurance claims to telecommunications companies by reporting a cell phone lost/stolen after a sale. In other situations, individuals are being sold stolen cell phones, or mobile devices that get blacklisted by a telecommunications company due to unpaid bills. Prior to a buy, consumers can test if the phone picks cellular service, or go online / contact a telecommunications company to determine if a phone is blacklisted, but that’s little help when a mobile device is blacklisted after a sale.

Read more at Yahoo Finance

This article is summarized by Canadian Fraud News Inc.