Cell phone jammers have come under the spotlight in the wake of recent cheating incidents during entrance exams at four prominent universities, including Kyoto University.
Such jammers transmit radio signals in the 800 MHz frequency band, which is used as the mainstream carrier frequency band for NTT DoCoMo's and KDDI's au phones. Products targeting other frequency bands are also available.
At present, the main corporate users of the jammers are the operators of hospitals, concert halls and cinemas, while some banks have also installed the device at their automated teller machines to help prevent "ore-ore" (it's me, it's me) frauds.
In the phone scam, culprits typically guide elderly people via cell phone to send money to the fraudsters' temporary bank accounts, pretending to be close kin or acquaintances suddenly in a financial bind.
According to dealers of cell phone jammers, universities have now been added to the customer list.
Tokyo-based Macros Japan said an increasing number of inquiries are coming from universities and other schools saying they are troubled by the problem of cheating.
