GATINEAU – Consumer group Public Interest Advocacy Centre says the growing challenge of number porting fraud, where consumers’ phone numbers are essentially stolen (and then used by thieves to hack into bank accounts, for example), is an issue which requires a full public hearing to discuss.
Earlier this month, the CRTC asked the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association for more information on the matter and what the association’s members are doing to prevent the practice. PIAC says more must be done, however.
“(W)e believe this is far too serious an issue for the Commission to only involve the CWTA,” said a January 21 letter to the Commission from PIAC. “All Canadian WSPs, consumer groups, Canadian wireless users and other stakeholders should be involved in the resolution of this problem.”
This sort of fraud is something PIAC has fielded complaints about and says “is highly disruptive to consumers and shakes their faith in the otherwise competition-friendly porting and billing rules that help consumers switch providers with the minimum of friction, cost and gaming of the system by former providers.
“While PIAC would seek to preserve number portability to the maximum extent feasible, it is not acceptable that the negative externalities of fraud and abuse that such a system presently allows be visited entirely upon consumers,” continues its letter. “One effective change, for example, could be a requirement that two-factor authentication (2FA) be used to authorize porting. How that 2FA could be structured to accomplish its aims without impeding number portability excessively could be a matter for consideration.
“We therefore request that the Commission issue a public Notice of Consultation on this matter shortly after receiving the CWTA’s answer and place the answers of the CWTA on the public record as part of that proceeding. Given the seriousness of such fraud for consumers, we would submit that the maximum transparency be required of WSPs and the CWTA in any materials they seek to claim confidentiality upon.”
The CWTA has to file its report with the CRTC by February 14th.
