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Feds Sue Calling Record Vendors

By Martin H. Bosworth
ConsumerAffairs.com

May 4, 2006

Calling Records • FTC Shuts Down Pretexting Operation • Phone Pretexters Get Off Cheap • Verizon Wireless Changes Customer Data Policy • FCC Strengthens Rules For Phone Privacy • House Tries Once More to Pass Pretexting Bill • Pretexting Bill: Pretense or Reality? • Hewlett-Packard Pays $14.5 Million to Settle Pretexting Suit • HP Scandal Ignites New Pretexting Battle In Congress • AT&T Sues Calling Record Brokers • Sprint Nextel Settles Case with Florida Data Broker • Feds Sue Calling Record Vendors • Illinois Lawsuit Charges Data Brokerages • Florida Judgment to End Data Broker's Business • Florida Investigates Fake Caller IDs • California Sues Data Trace USA for $10 Million • Missouri Sues Datatraceusa.com • Florida Sues Data Broker Over Sale of Phone Records • Texas Sues Companies Selling Telephone Calling Records • Websites Hawking Phone Records Shut Down • FTC Vows to Stop Illicit Sale of Cell Phone Calling Records • FTC Pledges "Vigorous" Pursuit of Cell Phone Record Sales • AT&T Accused of Eavesdropping, Calling Record Sales • Sprint Sues Cell Phone Record Brokers • Missouri Shuts Down Locatecell.com • Texas Probes Cell Phone Calling Record Sales, Missouri Files Suit • Illinois Sues Company Selling Cell Phone Calling Records • Outcry Over Sale of Cell Phone Calling Records

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has put companies that sell people's cell phone calling records to third parties on notice -- literally.

The FTC filed complaints against five companies that traffic in selling records, demanding they halt operations and return the money they made.

The companies and associated individuals targeted in the complaints include Yorktown, VA-based Integrity Security & Investigation Services, 77 Investigations and defendant Richard Kimbro of Upland, CA, and AccuSearch/Abika.com and Jay Patel of Cheyenne, WY.

The FTC charged the companies with violation of portions of the 1996 Telecommunications Act regarding the sale of Customer Proprietary Network Information (CPNI), and the FTC Act, which "prohibits unfair or deceptive acts or practices in or affecting commerce," according to the complaint filing.

The FTC complaints accuse the companies of "[using or causing] others to use, false pretenses, fraudulent statements, fraudulent or stolen documentation or other misrepresentations, including posing as a customer of a telecommunications carrier, to induce officers, employees, or agents of telecommunications carriers to disclose confidential customer phone records."

At least one company targeted for selling cellphone records denies the charges, according to the Washington Post. David Kacala, of Baltimore, MD-based Information Services, claimed that his company assists lawyers with investigations, and didn't sell any confidential information to the public.

The FTC action comes on the heels of legislation passed by the House of Representatives that would enforce criminal penalties for the sale and disclosure of individual cell phone records without customer consent.

The bill passed the House 409-0, and is set to be reconciled with similar legislation in the Senate.

The issue of cell phone record sales was brought to national prominence when blogger John Aravosis bought the cell phone records of former Presidential candidate Gen. Wesley Clark, and discussed it on his "AMERICABlog.com" site.

Since then, multiple states and all of the major cellphone carriers have filed suits against companies like LocateCell.com and DataTraceUSA.com.

In April 2006, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan sued two out-of-state companies for falsely representing themselves as consumers or agents of cellphone providers in order to sell calling records to third parties.

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