HOW SAFE ARE YOUR TELEPHONE RECORDS?

If you phone Aunt Martha or call your doctor you assume that your phone records are secure to all but perhaps homeland security. However, the privacy of your phone records has always been at risk.

Private investigators, litigants in lawsuits, the curious, and others often obtain these records through fraudulent means. These phone records can then be used to further investigations into a person’s life-style, finances, relationships, employment, and other matters.

The techniques for obtaining phone records by fraudulent means usually take the form of one type of identity theft – impersonation crimes. Those seeking your phone records, present themselves to the phone company by impersonating you and requesting information that they claim has been misplaced or lost – such as a phone bill or other information.

Until recently identity thieves have found this method of accessing phone information frightfully easy. A simple search of the internet will reveal a number of companies who offer these services to consumers.

Be for-warned that the only way these companies can obtain this information for sale is through fraud. However, this week AT&T filed suit against 25 “data brokers” who it claims fraudulently obtained calling records of over 2500 customers. These “data brokers” posed as customers to get records which they then resold to those involved in legal or domestic disputes or just bent on mischief.

AT&T set up a sting operation to identify these internet fraudsters and although this impersonation crime is very widespread, we can hope that this first step by AT&T will give pause to those engaging in these criminal acts. However, given the ease of this impersonation crime, and the lack of real consequences, AT&T's valiant effort will likely have little impact.