GMRS security risk.

[MarkInTampa]

On 4/22/2025 at 10:59 PM, Lscott said:

Ah, you too. My employee number at work is 666. Don’t know if that’s lucky or not.

The other day I did a statewide search on the FCC GMRS license search site for "Terminated" licenses ("Cancelled" is a different field). There were 10 of them but it doesn't say why they were terminated. 5 of them appeared to be legacy business licenses and were cancelled 10-15 years ago. The 5 relatively recent were kinda obvious - ended in "666" or had "WSEX" as a prefix. Somebody does have WSEX666 though!

[WRUE951]

23 minutes ago, MarkInTampa said:

The other day I did a statewide search on the FCC GMRS license search site for "Terminated" licenses ("Cancelled" is a different field). There were 10 of them but it doesn't say why they were terminated. 5 of them appeared to be legacy business licenses and were cancelled 10-15 years ago. The 5 relatively recent were kinda obvious - ended in "666" or had "WSEX" as a prefix. Somebody does have WSEX666 though!

A terminated GMRS license means the FCC has deemed the license invalid, and it is no longer permitted to operate GMRS. This can happen due to various reasons, including license expiration or non-compliance with FCC rules. I would bet most what you see are due to expiration.  

[MarkInTampa]

11 minutes ago, WRUE951 said:

A terminated GMRS license means the FCC has deemed the license invalid, and it is no longer permitted to operate GMRS. This can happen due to various reasons, including license expiration or non-compliance with FCC rules. I would bet most what you see are due to expiration.  

I figured they were terminated because of licensee complaints to the FCC about their callsign so the old callsign was cancelled and a new one issued. Like I said, the only licenses (other than 1) terminated in the state had WSEX as a prefix or 666 as a suffix in the last 10 years. "Expired" is a different field and has over 7,200 results in my state alone!

[WRUE951]

8 minutes ago, MarkInTampa said:

I figured they were terminated because of licensee complaints to the FCC about their callsign so the old callsign was cancelled and a new one issued. Like I said, the only licenses (other than 1) terminated in the state had WSEX as a prefix or 666 as a suffix in the last 10 years. "Expired" is a different field and has over 7,200 results in my state alone!

if a GMRS Lic is revoked due to complaints then the FCC would also post the actual infractions along with who and why the the Lic was revoked.  According to the video guy here, the FCC has only issued 4 violations  on GMRS/CB radio recently.  I would bet CB radio was 90% of those violations.  

[MarkInTampa]

10 minutes ago, WRUE951 said:

if a GMRS Lic is revoked due to complaints then the FCC would also post the actual infractions along with who and why the the Lic was revoked.  According to the video guy here, the FCC has only issued 4 violations  on GMRS/CB radio recently.  I would bet CB radio was 90% of those violations.  

Not field complaints to the FCC but the individual that was issued a license they didn't like, called the FCC and had the call terminated and reissued. I looked at two of the recent "terminated" license's by FRN and they have a new and current GMRS licenses.  

[WRUE951]

1 hour ago, MarkInTampa said:

Not field complaints to the FCC but the individual that was issued a license they didn't like, called the FCC and had the call terminated and reissued. I looked at two of the recent "terminated" license's by FRN and they have a new and current GMRS licenses.  

did you find the public notice on this?

[Bogieboy01]

2 hours ago, MarkInTampa said:

The other day I did a statewide search on the FCC GMRS license search site for "Terminated" licenses ("Cancelled" is a different field). There were 10 of them but it doesn't say why they were terminated. 5 of them appeared to be legacy business licenses and were cancelled 10-15 years ago. The 5 relatively recent were kinda obvious - ended in "666" or had "WSEX" as a prefix. Somebody does have WSEX666 though!

Dang.... that woulda been soooooo much better than mine....LOL WSHS666 Here...

[WQAI363]

9 hours ago, GreggInFL said:

Thank you.

No Problem! I recently was listening, and the LEARN SYSTEM is opened to not just Public Safety Individuals, but a lot of other occupations are joining. I would join, but right now I think I better steer clear of one individual who I won't disclose their name or unit number.  I have to say that I done something wrong, which I won't go into details. Nothing Illegal or in violation of FCC R&Rs.

 

Glad to Help again! 

[WQAI363]

On 5/15/2025 at 1:34 PM, Radioguy7268 said:

Law Enforcement Radio Network = LERN, or LEARN.  It's a group of networked GMRS repeaters throughout New Jersey. They reach into southeastern PA, DE, & NYC.  You're supposed to be Law Enforcement to use the system.  Not sure if it's still linked. I rarely heard anyone on it when I used to monitor GMRS in the area.

/off topic

This is one topic that I know that everyone would want to slap me across the head. I used to complain about LEARN. But, I have to admit that there's a lot of intelligent individuals in that organization, which I wouldn't want tarnish the organization by joining. I'm just happy that I change my mind about LEARN.

Of course, I wish there .575 repeater that was open for anyone to use, even if the Repeater Owner or Trustee asked for donations. Besides, Repeaters cannot remain on without money

[WRQI583]

I have been scratching my head over this for a long time now. I understand being cautious about the security of your home, but do you all (those that have this issue with the address on the FCC database) live in an extremely high crime neighborhood? Are you all filthy rich, prominent, and in the newspapers front and center? I have had a Ham license starting off in 1996 with several different addresses over the years and now have GMRS and Ham with my address on there. I know hundreds of Hams out there that have their address on their license and don't know of anyone who has been harmed or robbed. Could it happen? Absolutely. But ask the many radio operators out there. How many have had their house broken into and been robbed or half beaten to death? I think the key thing is to NOT display your equipment online in either a list or pictures. Even then, who is coming to steal it? Probably only another radio operator.

I remember when I got one of my licenses recently, someone sent me a message warning me that my address was online. Yep, it was, just like it had always been. And if people did further searching, you would find that a hundred other sites had my address and probably every address I ever lived at, including every phone number I have ever had. The FCC website is the least of your worries. Try fast people search, been verified, and hundreds of other data mining sites that collect every bit of information on you, place it in a blender, and whip up a mess of info on you that can sometimes make you look really sketchy. Unless you paid a lot of money to the right people to have all of your information scrubbed from the internet, something about you or related to your address is going to pop up. To want to give up on having a radio because you think that someone is going to break into your house just because the FCC has your address up for all to see, is crazy. Best bet is to get a P.O. Box so that your address wont pop up.

The issue is that other websites will still have your address. If you own your own home and I find your name on the FCC website, I can then take that name and then enter into the tax assessors database for your town and find your address that way. Too much is public knowledge these days. It is almost impossible to hide. My thought is that criminals looking to steal to make a quick buck are going to break into your house just because. I highly doubt they will get sophisticated enough to monitor radio traffic to see when you are not around. The best thing is to maybe get cameras installed on your house. Put up signs stating that the property is monitored by camera surveillance.