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.

[WRTC928]

15 hours ago, WRQI583 said:

Put up signs stating that the property is monitored by camera surveillance.

But then I wouldn't get to watch my pitbull bite their leg off on my surveillance cameras.

[WRKC935]

Going back to the original post. 

While it's true that using you call sign does in fact identify you, so do your license plates. 

And while I don't believe that most conversations are going to open you up to a situation that could be either dangerous or result in being robbed while you aren't home, a bit of operational security is always a good idea.

Things like not discussing a vacation trip you are PLANNING to take with others prior to your departure and return. I would never tell anyone over the air that I was going on vacation for any amount of time, unless I am planning on staying home.  I don't discuss any departure or arrival times for even going to work.  Not that I don't trust the people I talk to on the radio, but I am NOT just talking to them.  Anyone with a radio or scanner can hear what's being said, and can act on that information. 

I do have a tendency to discuss the security camera's at the house, and the fact that there are multiple DVR's and I get alerts on my phone when a camera is tripped due to motion.  I don't discuss actual camera locations, overlaps of coverage or weaknesses.  Any discussions are typically about adding additional camera's.  Which is a deterrent alone. 

But 'opsec' which is operational security said in a real cool way, is really nothing more than sitting and considering what you can and can't say / advertise about your day to day life.  And the dumb stuff like getting the mail and newspaper delivery stopped when out of town falls into that opsec stuff.  And it's a good idea to have that conversation with your wife and kids. 

We can't block anyone and everyone from knowing our vacations and travel plans.  The work place makes it really hard to keep all that quiet.  The bosses will want to know what's happening, and while you can avoid saying much, saying too little can be detrimental as well.  And telling them outright that you aren't going to discuss your travel plans will only put them on edge.  Mostly because it's not 'normal' to not brag about taking a cruise or going to Disney or similar far away attraction. 

But don't concern yourself with the idea that criminals are sitting around a GMRS radio waiting on someone to announce they are going away on vacation to go rob their house. 

 

[OffRoaderX]

31 minutes ago, WRKC935 said:

While it's true that using you call sign does in fact identify you, so do your license plates. 

Community Note / Readers Added Context:

To identify someone based on their callsign takes 10 seconds and can be done by anyone in the world with access to the internet. 

To identify someone based on their license plate number in most states takes a lot of work/knowing the right people/filling out the right forms/paying a lot of monies, IF it is even legal to do so in your state.

 

[hxpx]

2 hours ago, WRKC935 said:

We can't block anyone and everyone from knowing our vacations and travel plans.  The work place makes it really hard to keep all that quiet. 

See, the key is to forget to enter your PTO until the day before you leave, and then nobody knows your plans! Managers hate this one simple trick! (It's me. I'm the manager... who still needs to submit a PTO request.)

I'm not stoked about my callsign being publicly tied to my name and address, but that's mostly because I figured it would get immediately scraped and sold off to some less than scrupulous advertising firms.

It also just feels weird, like handing everyone at the bar a copy of your drivers license, but those are the rules we agreed to play by, I guess.

[WRKC935]

10 hours ago, OffRoaderX said:

Community Note / Readers Added Context:

To identify someone based on their callsign takes 10 seconds and can be done by anyone in the world with access to the internet. 

To identify someone based on their license plate number in most states takes a lot of work/knowing the right people/filling out the right forms/paying a lot of monies, IF it is even legal to do so in your state.

 

Absolutely.  It's not as easy as doing a google search for a call sign.  There is a bit of footwork involved and it's not possible in every state. 

But the biggest hole is the social media sites.  People tend to have their personal info (name and location) on sites like Facebook and will then go on vacation and start posting pictures and videos of sandy beaches and sunsets for everyone to see while clearly being from Ohio, Indiana or any state without sandy beaches and drinks in coconuts. 

Point I am trying to make is that while, just like you stated, a simple Google search of a call sign will indeed get you the address and name of that person.  Criminals have a number of ways to get that info.  And they aren't going to be sitting in a room with a bunch of scanners listening to GMRS looking for someone to announce they are leaving town.

The one that I always had an issue with was law enforcement running SSN and drives licenses over the air.  Complete with car make, model and year.  It's not hard to figure out that if someone is driving a newer Cadillac that you now have their DR number, address, name, DOB that they are a better target for identity theft than a guy in a 84 Reliant K-car.

 

 

[CaptainSarcastic]

12 hours ago, OffRoaderX said:

Community Note / Readers Added Context:

To identify someone based on their callsign takes 10 seconds and can be done by anyone in the world with access to the internet. 

To identify someone based on their license plate number in most states takes a lot of work/knowing the right people/filling out the right forms/paying a lot of monies, IF it is even legal to do so in your state.

 

You're absolutely correct - UNLESS you're one of THOSE PEOPLE silly enough to have personalized plates with their hams call on it...then once again, 10 seconds is all it takes.