Are Your Cell Phone Records for Sale Online?

Iria · Aug 31, 2005, 05:14 AM

Aug. 30, 2005 — You can see who you've been talking to on your cell phone by taking a quick glance at your monthly bill. What's disturbing is anyone with online access can pay to find out some of that exact same information.

Online credit card scams and fraudulent e-mail spam that seek personal financial information have raised awareness of the threat of identity theft. But now privacy groups and security concerns are also raising the alarm about so-called online "information brokers" — Web sites that will obtain and sell personal information to anyone willing to pay.

At LocateCell.com, for example, suspicious spouses can pay $110 and secretly obtain the cell phone records of their partners. For additional fees, the company will even identify the names and address of suspicious numbers so customers can determine exactly who their partners are calling. All results, according to the company's Web site, are "guaranteed to be accurate" and can be delivered in as little as an hour.

Sites such as BestPeopleSearch.com will go even further. Online customers can dig up all types of personal information — phone records, work history, arrest records, residential and mailing addresses, motor vehicle records — for fees ranging from $37 to $250.
__________
Read More / Source: ABC News

Aug 31, 2005, 05:14 AM	#1
Iria DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 7,275 Rep Power: 89	Are Your Cell Phone Records for Sale Online? Aug. 30, 2005 — You can see who you've been talking to on your cell phone by taking a quick glance at your monthly bill. What's disturbing is anyone with online access can pay to find out some of that exact same information. Online credit card scams and fraudulent e-mail spam that seek personal financial information have raised awareness of the threat of identity theft. But now privacy groups and security concerns are also raising the alarm about so-called online "information brokers" — Web sites that will obtain and sell personal information to anyone willing to pay. At LocateCell.com, for example, suspicious spouses can pay $110 and secretly obtain the cell phone records of their partners. For additional fees, the company will even identify the names and address of suspicious numbers so customers can determine exactly who their partners are calling. All results, according to the company's Web site, are "guaranteed to be accurate" and can be delivered in as little as an hour. Sites such as BestPeopleSearch.com will go even further. Online customers can dig up all types of personal information — phone records, work history, arrest records, residential and mailing addresses, motor vehicle records — for fees ranging from $37 to $250. __________ Read More / Source: ABC News