Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

AT&T Customer Phone Hacking Tied To Terrorists

Posted by samzenpus on from the phoning-the-bad-guys dept.

theodp writes "Have you ever hacked into AT&T customer accounts and diverted money to terrorism-financing groups? You will. In 2003, the NY Times reported that AT&T contended U.S. victims of a Philippines-based telephone hacking swindle were responsible for long-distance calls fraudulently made through their voice mail systems. At the time, the city of East Palo Alto was slapped with a $30,000 long-distance phone bill that resulted from voice-mail hacking. Fast forward to 2011, and the NY Times is reporting that a Philippines-based group hacked into the accounts of AT&T business customers in the U.S. and diverted money to an organization that financed terrorist attacks across Asia. But it's not quite deja-vu-all-over-again. While it'd make a better story if AT&T contended customers were responsible for the charges and any ensuing terrorism, AT&T reimbursed the victims of the hacking this time around."

4 of 39 comments (clear)

  1. Who needs voicemail? by ackthpt · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Months ago I received a text message, which billed me for $10. T-Mobile just let it through like it was completely legit. I had to spend over an hour with customer service before I got them to block all billing to my mobile phone account.

    Talk about a security hole you could drive a truck through. How many other vermin are doing this and getting away with it?

    --

    A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
    1. Re:Who needs voicemail? by Zero__Kelvin · · Score: 5, Funny

      "I had to spend over an hour with customer service before I got them to block all billing to my mobile phone account."

      Could you tell us how you did it? No matter what I try, I keep getting a bill every month :-(

      --
      Guns don't kill people; Physics kills people! - John Lithgow as Dick Solomon on Third Rock From The Sun
    2. Re:Who needs voicemail? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

      Talk about a security hole you could drive a truck through.

      That's not a security hole - that's a feature. and of course T-Mobile has a history of this shit

      See, the telecom industry is legally allowed and prefers to be able to charge for third party services because they get a HUGE commission. That's the reason why T-Mobile gave you a hard time because they were also making money on the fraudulent charges. And the way it works is that the crooks don't even need permission to it. They can slam the charges on your bill. And to add insult to injury, our phone bills are so goddamn complicated and with purposefully vague terms like "National service fees" or charges that are made to look like some sort of Federally mandated charge, it's very difficult to catch the bogus charges and therefore, most people pay for the crooks.

      What we need is a regulation that makes third party billing on any telecom account illegal. The telecoms cannot be trusted to do the right thing. Self regulation my ass!

  2. Re:Of all places, EPA? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    People with money generally know how to keep it, or they wouldn't have it. Scammers target the inept who don't know how to defend themselves (and who society will quickly believe brought it onto themselves). Rich people call the police. Poor people don't, because they (correctly) expect calling the police to get them into more trouble.