Eliminating Pay Phone Toll Fraud at the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Manhattan

During the late 1980s and early 1990s, international toll fraud at the pay phones of the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Manhattan was an entrenched criminal enterprise involving millions of dollars per year. People wanting to call outside the U.S. could make contact with a "hustler" at the terminal who knew how to obtain illegal access to toll lines, and who would connect the callfor themfor a fraction of the usual cost. This business helped to attract many criminals to the building, and toll fraud materially contributed to the terminal's unsavory atmosphere. It proved highly resistant to police action and was only eliminated during a comprehensive effort by the management to rid the building of crime. Various measures recommended by two separate groups of consultants were implemented, including a reduction in the number of pay phones, restricting access to high-risk pay phones outside rush hours, removing the phones' international dialing capacity and disabling the telephone keypads to prevent the routing of fraudulent calls through the exchange systems of private businesses.