Using Google Maps To Intercept FBI and Secret Service Calls

An anonymous reader sends in a story about a network engineer named Bryan Seely, who was tired of seeing fake listings and spam on Google Maps. He contacted the company and tried to convince them to fix their system, but didn't have much luck. Afterward, he thought of an effective demonstration. He put up fake listings for the FBI and the Secret Service with phone numbers that sent the calls to him. When people called, he forwarded them to the actual agencies while he listened in. After recording a couple of calls for proof, he went to a local Secret Service office to explain the problem: "After that, Seely says, he got patted down, read his Miranda rights, and put in an interrogation room. Email correspondence with the Secret Service indicates that the special agent in charge called him a 'hero' for bringing this major security flaw to light. They let him go after a few hours. Seely says the fake federal listings, which were both ranked second every time I checked Google Maps, were up for four days. He took them down himself when the Secret Service asked."

Comments

Patting down

[K. S. Kyosuke]

"I got a pat on the back...and them some."

Re:Patting down

[Impy the Impiuos Imp]

I like my coffee like I like my Secret Service agents -- black helicopters.

Re:Lucky

[russotto]

If it had been the TSA, someone with a vaguely similar name would still be in jail.

Re:No solution...

[camperdave]

Sorry, you seem to be under the impression that there exist in the U.S. "non-criminals" from the perspective of L.E. agencies.

Of course they exist. They're everyone above you in the chain of command.

Re:Directly contacting gov agencies. Good idea?

[JustOK]

Best way to fight a war is on drugs