T-Mobile gets injunction against prepaid traffickers

T-Mobile USA is putting a stop to companies that bulk purchase and resell prepaid phones. In a federal lawsuit filed in Houston, the operator received a judgment against Rafiq Wazir Ali, who does business as Fone XChange. Likewise, in a federal lawsuit filed in Dallas, it received a judgment against ASPAC. In that case T-Mobile was awarded $6.5 million in damages in addition to the injunction.

T-Mobile says that the problem with these traffickers is that they pocket the subsidies that T-Mobile expects to get by making the phones less expensive to consumers. Plus the fraudsters usually resell the phones without manufacturers' warranties or user manuals, and consumers think they are getting T-Mobile handsets that carry the warranty. T-Mobile isn't alone in its pursuit of prepaid traffickers. TracFone also has filed similar lawsuits across the country to try to put an end to this practice.

For more:
- read this press release

Related article:
TracFone tries to stop phone traffickers