How in the world is a pre paid phone properly handled not relatively safe?
I know of one case where a guy from DC paid cash for a pre-paid a huge Wal*mart in WV. They do track the numbers on the phones when you buy them, of course. It all goes into the store records and telco records. Maybe not WHO you are, but definitely where and when it was purchased.
He was running a heroin delivery service off of it. They nailed him by resorting to looking at the surveillance tapes of the cashier lane during the time when he bought it. From that they snagged video of what he looked like, and from there figured out who he was and nailed him.
Come to think of it, the strip search mcdonlads prank call guy that was in the media last year was almost the exact same story, only he was in Florida and it was prepaid calling cards instead of pre paid phone. Bought 'em at wal*mart with cash, and they nailed him from the store video.
It all comes down to how bad a reason you give someone to find out who you are.