We preach. We bitch. We complain. We urge our readers to report free government cell phone fraud whenever they see it.
And lord knows, there’s plenty of it out there to be seen.
When a neighbor told unemployed Rochester resident Jerry Britt that they were giving away free government cell phones at a street event on Hudson Avenue, he quickly headed in that direction.
“This, you don’t have to worry about a bill,” said Britt. “The government is giving us an opportunity to have a phone. For emergency purposes, and for having to look for a job, for you to have family members be in touch with you, it makes it very feasible for all of us.”
That’s where the good news ends and the bad news begins. WHEC-TV has more details about the scary Halloween fraud:
But an internal audit by the Federal Communication Commission showed that the Lifeline program was full of abuse and fraud.
Their investigation revealed that phone companies handed out more than a million taxpayer funded cell phones to people who didn’t qualify for the service.
In one case, more than 10,000 people were listed at the same address.
Earlier this summer, Senator Claire McCaskill of Missouri revealed that 47,942 dead people were signed up and somebody received a free cell phone using one of those names.
Please read that number one more time.
Nearly 50,000 dead people enrolled in the Lifeline program and received free government cell phones. This is not a Halloween prank. It’s serious fraud.
This is why taxpayers complain about the cost of the Lifeline program. This is why so many taxpayers think the cell phone recipients are deadbeats who suck the system dry. This is why legitimate, worthy cell phone recipients are condemned right along with the cheats who abuse the system.
So for what seems like the thousandth time, PLEASE report any fraud, waste and abuse that you see.
If you don’t, the entire free government cell phone system will eventually come tumbling down and those who deserve help the most will no longer get it.
Here’s a link to an article that tells you exactly how to report fraud, waste and abuse.
Jennifer says
Oh please. This is BS. We who use these programs get the crappy phones and 250 minutes with hardly any data, if you even receive data. So scammers are desperate for flip phones and 250 minutes?
This is just a way for billionaire companies, such as AT&T and T-Mobile, to be able to cancel their services to people like us on this page. There is no way 10,000 people were at the same address. Just a cursory glance by a computer would show that “error”, and 1 “household” can only have 1 free phone, so there’s locks in place to even look at that, more than 1 person at the same address.
I call BS.
Free Government Cell Phones says
Nice theory, Jennifer, but neither AT&T nor T-Mobile participate in the free government cell phone program. On one hand, you complain about “billionaire companies” profiting from this program by cancelling people’s accounts, but you fail to mention “billionaire companies” like Sprint, which provides the cell network for most of the free government cell phone companies, nor Safelink, the largest free government cell phone company, which is owned by billionaire Carlos Slim. Tough to keep track of the evil billionaires, isn’t it?
richard n. striegel jr. says
I have a government phone that I lost last night it was very old not a smart phone. I called the company assurance wireless and they will send me a smart phone at no cost to me, because the old phones are outdated. however, they could not tell me how much data I would get per month or if it is wi-fi capable my question to you is when I get it and those options aren,t available can I switch carriers and transfer my old number to the new carrier?
Free Government Cell Phones says
You can switch service providers at any time IF you have been with your current service provider for 60 days or longer. Here’s an article that tells you how to make the switch:
https://www.freegovernmentcellphones.net/faq/how-do-i-switch-lifeline-providers
ercwinslowjns says
this really a shame there is a lot of people that need phones and cannot receive one and then you here about this
John Phoenix says
I have to ask.. is this fraud? I signed up to Lifeline through Safelink and had the service since July of last year. I’ve spoken to you before. I qualified because I had Medicaid. Around march of this year I lost my Medicaid status. I assumed in July a year would be up and I’d have to re-register to continue to have service. I never bothered to re-register and stopped using the phone because I assumed my service would be dropped because I no longer had Medicaid. I get a letter from Safelink in the mail.. I was expecting it to say my service was canceled. To my surprise the letter fussed at me for not using the service for a month and reminded me if I didn’t use the service at least once a month it would be terminated. I picked the phone back up and and am still using it everyday. There is no intention to cancel my service apparently.. which is fine with me.. I want to keep it. I didn’t even have to re-register and I thought that was required. So, why wasn’t I dropped.. what am i missing here? Was my assumption that i had to maintain my Medicare not correct to continue service?
Thank you.
Free Government Cell Phones says
It’s either fraud or incompetence. Maybe even both, John. You should have been cancelled for not using your phone for 30 days. You should also have been cancelled for not recertifying your eligibility.
John Phoenix says
That’s what I thought. Thanks. I’ll keep the service as long as they let me of course but I don’t feel too bad and here is why. My situation for requiring Medicaid personally did not change as far as I’m concerned. The Only change I made was getting married and the government thinks my wife (I’m retired and do not work) makes too much for me to have the benefit.. which is crap. We are over the limit by like 100 dollars for the year. That’s not enough to replace the Medicade benefits.. they are Crazy. What do they expect me to do.. get a divorce? Since the government isn’t being fair with me, the least they can do is let me keep the phone they spend pennies a year for. That’s how I see it. Thanks.
Deborah Diehl says
How can I get a new phone plus keep my present phone number. Because the phone I have now quit working some time ago. That is why I need a new phone, that way all I have to do is have my phone number switched over onto it. That way I will be able to keep my present phone number, it would be very hard to go through my phone book in order to give everyone a new number instead
of me keeping my present number. I have to many people to give a new number to at this time.
I will be waiting to hear from you very soon. There is so much I would like to tell you and the only way I can tell you or ask you is through email lot letters so later my friend, talk to you soon and Í hope we can stay friends a long time.
Thank you very much,
Deborah Diehl
Free Government Cell Phones says
How long has your phone been out of order, Deb? If it’s been more that 30 days, your account has probably been cancelled according to the rules of the Lifeline program. In that case, your phone number is probably long gone.
If your account is still active, you can get a new phone and get your old number transferred over very simply. Just speak to customer service.
Deborah Cepeda says
I have attempted 3 X to obtain one since I had a fire in February and the one I had disappeared in that fire and still have no way to be in contact with my loved ones although my income fall far enough below, I’ve been disable for over 24 years, and this kind of mismanagement (not JUST abuse!!) really peeves me. I am NO deadbeat–my Dad at one time was employed by the state I live in from 41y.o to 70y.o so I don’t come from a family of them either. Don’t all of you be so quick to jump on what appears to me to be yet another TRUMP bandwagon to denigrate some poor folks–they’re not all crooks and deadbeats and the government needs to have better ways to ensure these *free* cell-phones are delivered into deserving hands!
Free Government Cell Phones says
And you probably shouldn’t be so quick to denigrate Trump. In this case, the senator quoted in the story is a Democrat. Both parties have been quick to criticize the fraud and abuse in this program.
Chester C. Graham says
Lack of detail makes me suspicious.
There is nothing in this article that tells me where I can go to verify its claims.
My personal experience has been that it is difficult to convince qualified individuals to apply for the Lifeline phones.
Free Government Cell Phones says
This program has been wracked with fraud since day one, Chester. Check the links in the story if you want more details, but as experts on this program we can honestly tell you that we have no doubt that the fraud is real.
Diana says
Just another way that the deadbeats screw us taxpayers! The government REFUSES to do ANYTHING to prevent the fraud with things such as this and worse yet FOOD STAMPS AND HOUSING….REGARDLESS of what they THINK the public wants to hear that they “say” they are doing by “cracking down on the fraud” (you know the people that live in the “projects” that drive brand new cars)….years ago, I had a SOCIAL WORKER tell me that they KNOW this goes on, (the people put the vehicles in someone else’s name and drive away)….the HUD/section 8 residents should be FORCED to show residency and proof of ownership of vehicles when seen or caught driving around these places and if caught driving a new vehicle over the allotted amount they are “supposed” to have as assets, thrown out of the projects for abusing the system!! I have seen way too many people “sell” their food stamps, use them for gas, drugs, alcohol, tobacco and other things….yet the government is oblivious and the taxpayers continue to get SCREWED!
Terri Geer says
Wow, such a lot of anger.
SNAP benefits (aka Food Stamps) are not sold. There used to be a program that used actual money-type documents, but those haven’t been used for quite some time. Now, SNAP benefits are issued to an EBT card. The same card that is used for TANF and GA benefits. SNAP benefits can ONLY be used for food. Not alcohol, tobacco or anything other than food. Period.
As for car ownership, I used to own a 1974 Cadillac Eldorado. While I was on public assistance. I paid a total of $450 for it. The person who sold it had loaned a friend some money, said friend skipped out, and the new owner only wanted the amount that he had loaned his friend. Nice, simple, and completely legal, situation. I have, also, used cars loaned to me by my parents. They are only a year or two old.
What I hear you saying is that, whether or not it’s true, if something APPEARS to be wrong, then it shouldn’t be happening at all. What a sad, narrow point of view.
All your rant (or tantrum) shows is that you believe every negative report – no matter whether there is verifiable evidence to support it or not.
Dezilu Alba says
that’s a lie , EBT in CA can be used in two ways, food stamp or cash aid, swipe the card and the key pad will ask food , cash or balance. If you check off cash, you can buy anything, alcohol and tobacco INCLUDED!
Norm Cull says
I have seen and reported EBT cards being sold on FB in the Spokane WA area. No kidding.