From the linked article I suppose I can imagine where Verizon's attempting to provide Mitch some semblance of "protection", but the way they went about doing so is a touch unsettling at best.
I'd have an issue with that sort of treatment. I understand the whole fraud thing, but sheesh.

"What is your account number, sir?" she asked. I told her that I didn't have it handy. "What is this about? I asked.

"Did you recently call South Korea?"

"I did."

"Did you call numerous times?"

"Three, to be exact."

"It is unusual for you to be calling South Korea. We have not noticed any prior calls to that country on your account, sir."

Verizon is an LEC in Shanghai, China, right? Then this would make more sense.

I can understand them possibly putting a restriction on international dialing, but cutting service off completely? That's not necessary. It was a nice touch for them to then tell you to call them :-).

Pfff... People complain when they get high bills from misuse caused by international calls. And now they also complain when said operator tries to protect you from that misuse.

They can never win.

I do like the dramatics added to the article though, blaiming Bush and the Patriot Act for this simple courtesy call...

@scoobydoo:

How about a courtesy call stating that they noticed some unusual use and wanted to make sure that the phone wasn't stolen?

It seems a little drastic to automatically disconnect service.

This sounds like an easy way to get out of that Verizon contract that you no longer want.

Verizon is actually protecting itself not the customer. Most likely the guys account it attached to a autopay credit card. If Verizon gets notified of a refused charge they also have to do a post back to the credit company. Since in a lot of cases the customer will receive their billing after the credit post date and notify Verizon of the error, Verizon ends up eating any merchant charges incurred. Their only way out is to actively look for fraud.

The thing I don't understand is why doesn't Verizon just place the charge on pending then notify the customer without turning off service.

Second question -- Customer, you NUTS! get an international calling card or use Skype. The tarriffed charge rates are a killer.

It's funny how they don't do things like that if you're traveling abroad and make ultra-expensive calls FROM South Korea.

"Verizon gets skittish if you call South Korea or Arabic countries"

Can you source the Arabic countries part? From the article I got the impression this was Verizon making sure nothing unauthorized was going on. They should applauded for being pro-active instead of reacting with the usual "We'll take $100 you're $3000 bill as a courtesy."

Sounds only like fraud prevention. My mom calls family and friends in south korea all the time (sometimes for hours on end) and that's never happened to us before.

Anyway, I ditto the skype suggestion. I think skypeout to korea (regardless of mobile/landline) is a few cents cheaper than any of the alternatives. Then again, it would just be a lot nicer if you used the free VoIP/chat options instead, save a few bucks.

Also, it's not fair to say Verizon CANCELED the service when the article makes it clear they only restricted it asking you to call them.

I am by no means a Verizon apologist (I hate them), but I really don't see the problem here. Calls to South Korea are $1.49/minute, and I can only assume misuse and fraud are high on that destination.

I work for Verizon-not High Toll mind you but you'd be shocked at home many people have house guests, relatives, or friends who use these poor peoples phones without their knowledge to make international calls. If High Toll doesn't place a block they can make as many calls as they like and then the owner of the phone is left with a HUGE BILL! High Toll has to make sure they're talking to the owner of the account so I can understand then wanting to verify the account number etc., imagine if your houseguest took it upon themself to call Verizon to unblock the line!!!!! Blocking a cutomer's line isn't fair to all but believe me it has saved some customer's the hassle of having a $1000 phone bill for a few lousy calls to some far off country.

Oh, peachy. I work in the oil industry and the members of my team travel all over the world. Well, not to Korea, but I think you get the drift.

I see nothing wrong with this. They didn't disconnect his service or shut it off. They restricted it. Banks do this sort of thing all the time if you're traveling abroad and don't notify them first. And *that's* not part of the "Patriot Act".

Grow up!

Makes sense to me. If you haven't made expensive international calls from the US before, then suddenly make several, that throws up red flags. Restrict service until you can verify there's no fraud going on. My credit card has done that to me a few times. A couple times a year, I buy stuff from UK websites b/c my sister lives in the UK. The first few times I did it, my credit card got put on a security hold because I all of a sudden made an out of the country charge and they were protecting my card from fraud.

Can someone cite a source for Verizon customers' difficulties calling Arabic countries? I know my boss has had some difficulties calling Pakistan, where her parents live (not an Arabic country, I know).

I don't care if it's a safety measure, they should make sure you know, first. Then, if it turns out they're fraudulent calls, then they should remove the charges anyway.