Cellular Records Review and Analysis

Part 4: Other Records

PATCtech
Glenn K Bard, Chief Technology Officer
Scott Lucas, Instructor and Examiner
Steve Dempsey, Instructor
Kathy Enriquez, Instructor
Brian Sprinkle, Case Manager and Software consultant
Jim Alsup, Director – PATC
Keenan Dolan, Webinar Manager
Stefani Lucas, Marketing Director
 Glenn K. Bard
Public Agency Training Council tech
Chief Technical Officer
PA State Trooper – Retired
NCMEC – Project ALERT
CISSP, EnCE, CFCE, CHFI, A+, Network+,
Security+, ACE, AME
For Starters
• What providers are we going to cover today?
• Tracfone
• T-Mobile US
• US Cellular
• MetroPCS
• Cricket
Question
• Question: What do NET10 Wireless, Total Wireless, Straight Talk,
SafeLink Wireless, Telcel América, Simple Mobile, and Page Plus
Cellular all have in common?

• Answer: They are all Tracfone.

Tracfone
• Tracfone is a MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operator) that has
agreements with AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile.

• The parent company for Tracfone is actually America Movil, Mexico’s

largest cellular provider.

• What this means is that Tracfone purchases large blocks of minutes, SMS
and Data from the large providers and then allows their customers to use
those minutes.

• This means that your suspect could have a GSM Tracfone accessing AT&T
towers, or a CDMA Tracfone accessing the Verizon towers.
Let’s run a phone number:
And it comes back to:
But when we contacted Verizon:
But yet:
And another:
Some tips about each of the offerings
• Tracfone:
• In December 2013 Tracfone started allowing “Bring your own device”
meaning that you could use any unlocked device on their network and did not
have to purchase one directly from them.
• Tracfone includes both GSM and CDMA models.
• Net10 Wireless
• Has LG and Samsung options and even offers a “mini” SIM card for iPhones.
• Also has CDMA and GSM offerings
• The 10 represents that it costs 10 cents per minute.
Some tips about each of the offerings
• Safelink:
• Offers a free cell phone and limited amount of minutes to low income eligible
families.
• Funded by the Universal Service Fund which is managed by the FCC.
• Currently there are 4 million subscribers in the US.
• Straight Talk:
• Is a partnership between Tracfone and Walmart.
• Offers both GSM and CDMA versions.
• Offers many types of phones including HTC, Nokia, LG and the iPhone family.
Tracfone

Contact Name: Attn: Subpoena Compliance

Online Service: TracFone Phone Wireless Inc. d/b/a Simple Mobile
Online Service Address: 9700 NW 112 Avenue
Miami, FL 33178
Phone Number: 800-810-7094
Fax Number: 305-715-6932
E-mail Address: subpoenacompliance@tracfone.com
Note(s): PLEASE NOTE: All Subpoenas and Court Orders must be addressed to TracFone
Wireless, Inc. d/b/a Simple Mobile or they will be returned for revision.

EXIGENT ONLY
E911/EXIGENT Hotline Number: 800-820-8632
T-Mobile US
• The second largest GSM provider in the United States.

• Parent Company is DT (Deutsche Telecom AG)

• Records are very similar to AT&T in that they give everything in one
document.

• Identify the number by the MSISDN: MSISDN - Mobile Station

International Subscriber Directory Number
T-Mobile US Definitions
• IMEI – International Mobile Equipment Identifier

• IMSI – International Mobile Subscriber Identifier

• MCC – Mobile Country Code

• MNC – Mobile Network Code

• ECGI – Cell Global Identifier on 4G

• MSISDN – Mobile Station International Subscriber Directory Number

T-Mobile

T-Mobile
Contact Name: Gavin Pinchback, Director, Law Enforcement Relations Group
Online Service: T-Mobile
Online Service Address: 4 Sylvan Way
Parsippany, New Jersey 07054
USA
Phone Number: 866-537-0911
E-mail Address: LERINBOUND@T-Mobile.com
Note(s): Metro PCS and T-Mobile are now one company. All subpoenas and
preservation requests are routed to one location.
Submit subpoena to: LERINBOUND@T-Mobile.com.

Requesting information about a subpoena or attempting to get an update on a

subpoena email: LER2@t-mobile.com.

Routine toll and subscriber requests can be requested from T-Mobile by e-mail
using their LER2@t-mobile.com address. They require a scanned or digital copy
of a company letterhead fax cover sheet with the requested numbers, the type
of response you are looking for (toll/subs) and the scanned court order /
subpoena.
T-Mobile US
• Some important notes:
• Times are in UTC, not current.
• SMS will not have locations.
• They are able to identify type of connection, IE, GSM / UMTS, etc.
• When you receive the spreadsheet, make sure and scan all the way to the
right, many times there is data
US Cellular
• Fifth largest provider in the United States

• Uses CDMA technology

• Based in Chicago Illionois

• Offers phones and tablets to include: Samsung, Motorola, HTC, LG, RIM,
Huawei, Alcatel, Pantech and Apple.

• US Cell Maintains SMS message content for a very short period of time.
US Cellular
• One extremely important note:
• Only one of the listed locations will be your target.
• If it is an outgoing call then the Originating tower is your targets. Disregard the
terminating.
• If it is an incoming call then the Terminating tower is your targets. Disregard the
originating.

• Uses Lucent and Nortel towers.

• If mapping a Lucent switch use the DEC column.
• If mapping a Nortel switch use the HEX column.
US Cellular

US Cellular

Contact Name: Records Custodian

Online Service: uscellular.com
Online Service Address: One Pierce Place, Suite 800
Itasca, IL 60143
Phone Number: 630-875-8270
Fax Number: 866-669-0894
E-mail Address: subpoenacompliance@uscellular.com
Note(s): Submit court orders to: subpoenacompliance@uscellular.com.
US Cellular
• Some important notes
• ALWAYS pay very close attention to the type of tower, Lucent vs Nortel. It
doesn’t just give you a different side, it will give you a complete different
tower many miles away.
• You will only get one location for call, not two.
• Keep contents of SMS for a very short period of time.
MetroPCS
• Operated a very large CDMA network. But was recently purchased by T-
Mobile is being integrated into the T-Mobile 4G Network.

• Merger between T-Mobile and MetroPCS was complete and they began
trading as one on the NYSE on May 1st, 2013.

• Their network is VERY unique in that it has some 6 sided towers.

Online Service: MetroPCS
Online Service Address: 2250 Lakeside Blvd.
Richardson, TX 75082
Phone Number: 866-537-0911
E-mail Address: subpoenas@metropcs.com
Note(s): Metro PCS and T-Mobile are now one company. All
subpoenas and preservation requests are routed to one
location.
It may take anywhere from 1 to 3 days for subpoena or
court order requests.

For general questions email:

leaquestions@metropcs.com

Exigent Only: call 866-537-0911 or email: LER3@T-

Mobile.com
Cricket
• Was founded as Leap Wireless in 1999.

• In July 2013 it was acquired by AT&T.

• As of March of 2015, Records are now held by AT&T.

• Records will come in both PDF and Excel

• Very similar to AT&T in that the call history and locations are in the same
document.
Cricket
AT&T National Compliance Center (NCC)
Contact Name: Cricket Legal Compliance Center
Online Service Address: 11760 U.S. Highway 1, Suite 600
North Palm Beach, FL 33408
Phone Number: 800-635-6840
Fax Number: 888-938-4715
Note(s): Cricket is a wholly owned subsidiary of AT&T. As of March 16, 2015, Cricket Legal Compliance Services requests will be
process by AT&T National Compliance Center (NCC).

Please send any/all legal requests (subpoenas, court orders, search warrants, etc.) for Cricket information to the AT&T National
Compliance Center located at (see above address).

For submission, faxing is preferred secure method.

Please Note: All legal requests received by Neustar, Inc. on or after March 16, 2015 will be responded to with directions to resend to
the AT&T NCC at the above address. Legal requests will not be forwarded to the AT&T NCC by Neustar for processing.
 Follow PATCtech!

PATCtech @PATCtech

Forensic Digital Evidence Investigators

(LinkedIn Group)

• Updates & PATCtech Research

• Public Safety News
• Training Opportunities