What Your Cell Phone Company Doesn't Want You To Know.....Wireless Carriers Block Simple Solution To Phone Theft To Protect Profits, Prosecutor Says

As cell phone robberies have soared nationwide, phone companies have found a lucrative side business offering insurance to customers who are anxious their devices may be lost or stolen.

The top four wireless carriers will earn more than $7.8 billion this year in insurance premiums from their customers, according to an estimate by Warranty Week, an industry trade publication. Asurion, a phone insurance company that pays the wireless carriers for each policy they sell, made an estimated $98 million in profit in 2010, according to Businessweek.

“If you do the math, the phone companies are making out like bandits," said Richard Doherty, a director for Envisioneering Group, a market research firm. read more