Why did ATT allow a thief to suspend my phone?

[Rmorris5714]

This past Saturday, my iPhone was stolen from my car.  I had installed the TRACK MY IPHONE app on it previously, so I used my iPad to attempt to locate the phone (the police department asked me if the phone had GPS to allow it to be tracked).  When I pulled up my devices it said my iphone had been SUSPENDED.  When I called the AT&T Customer Service number, they told me that someone had suspended my phone TWO HOURS before I called to report it stolen.  I found this extremely odd since I had to provide the last four digits of my social security number BEFORE I was able to do anything with my account.  HOW IS IT THAT A THIEF CAN SUSPEND THE PHONE WITH NO RIGHTS TO MY ACCOUNT?  

The Customer Service rep said that someone did it on the automated system and it was allowed so that if someone "FOUND" a phone that the owner would not incur long distance calls and the like.  The problem with this logic is that once the THEIF suspended MY PHONE, I COULD NO LONGER TRACK IT!  Even worse, I could not do a REMOTE WIPE to clear it of my data.  AT&T should never have allowed ANYONE to suspend my phone without authorization.  

I complained via email, but all I am getting is a stock answer that someone would need the password or social security number to suspend the phone.  OBVIOUSLY, this is NOT what happened.  AT&T made it impossible for me (or the police) to recover my phone.  They also made it impossible for me to remove my personal data (I spent a whole afternoon changing passwords).  This does not seem right.  

Now to replace the phone, I have to pay the much higher prices because I am not "due" for another phone for another year.  I am considering cancelling my account because of this SECURITY BREACH by AT&T.

Any ideas how I can get someone at AT&T to realize what a problem this has created and to do something about it?