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How to Prevent Long Distance Slamming
with a PIC Freeze
There is a way to prevent your Long Distance service from being switched to another carrier without your permission. This tactic is known as slamming. To avoid slamming, you can request a "PIC freeze". The PIC is a code which indicates your Pre-subscribed Interexchange Carrier, or simply, your Long Distance company. By "freezing" your PIC code, your local phone company will not accept any orders to change your Long Distance carrier without your permission.
How to Request a PIC Freeze
- Call your long distance company (the company you prefer to use) and ask them to tell you their "carrier code," the number that your local company needs in order to implement a PIC freeze.
- Call your local phone company and give them your phone number.
- Ask for your PIC to be restricted, and give them the long distance carrier code provided to you by your long distance company (the number you got in step 1).
Once you've requested a PIC freeze, your local phone company will put a block on your account. Your local phone company will ask you for a password, known only to you, that you will need to keep in a safe place. That password must be provided before your long distance carrier can be changed again.
It's important to note that once you have a PIC freeze in place, not even YOU will be able to switch your long distance company without calling your local company and authorizing it. So before you institute that PIC freeze, make sure you've got the best long distance plan for your calling pattern. See our Long Distance Best Rate Calculator link below.
How to Remove a PIC Freeze
If you are in the process of changing Long Distance carriers, then you need to be sure your local phone company will not reject the request from your new carrier.
If you (or your existing long distance carrier) have requested that any attempts to switch long distance carriers on this line should be rejected, You must call your local telephone company and request that the PIC freeze be removed.
Call your local telephone company to see if you have a PIC freeze you placed with your previous carrier that you may have forgotten, or the local phone company placed themselves through error.
Verizon PIC Freeze
Verizon has implemented an automatic PIC Freeze line, which makes the process of freezing and unfreezing very easy. Just call 800-305-4838. You may Freeze and Unfreeze either or both your regional as well as your long distance. You will need your phone bill for information the system will request. Only you will be able to change the PIC Freeze on your numbers(s).
How Else May We Help You?
We hope you found this Pic Freeze Guide helpful.
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