TracFone racks up another win against cellphone hackers

A federal judge in Dallas issued a $1 million judgment for TracFone Wireless Inc. in connection with the hacking and resale of bulk amounts of prepaid phones, an illegal practice whose scope appears larger and more geographically widespread than originally suspected.
The ruling by U.S. Judge David Godey of the Northern District of Texas is the 12th victory for TracFone in illicit resale cases. The Miami-based prepaid cellphone king, which has filed 28 lawsuits against more that 80 defendants in federal courts around the country, said litigation is far from over.
“TracFone is committed to putting an end to these unlawful practices,” said Steven Brodie, a lawyer at the Carlton Fields law firm that represents TracFone.
James Baldinger, another attorney at Carlton Fields, added: “We intend to file many more lawsuits around the country, and to continue working closely with law enforcement, private investigators, and handset manufacturers to attack the perpetrators from all sides. Anyone engaged in this practice should be concerned that they may be our next target.”
AT&T Mobility recently filed suit to halt the same illegal practice with respect to its prepaid GoPhone products. Baldinger is a counsel to AT&T Mobility in that action in which South America, Asia and the Middle East are suspected markets for the resale of unlocked phones at steep profits.
TracFone said T-Mobile USA Inc, Nokia Corp. and Virgin Mobile USA Inc. also have filed similar suits.