Verizon Wireless moves to stop customer info theft

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Verizon Wireless said on Wednesday
that it had received a court injunction to stop a Florida
investigative agency from fraudulently obtaining confidential
information about its wireless subscribers.

The No. 2 U.S. mobile service said it filed a lawsuit
accusing Global Information Group of making thousands of
attempts to gather confidential information without
authorization and using fraudulent schemes to do so, including
impersonating Verizon employees and posing as customers.

Verizon Wireless is a venture of Verizon Communications
Inc. and Vodafone Group Plc.

It said it filed suit in Hillsborough County, Florida, on
November 2 and received a temporary restraining order on the
same day. The court also gave it an order entitling it to seize
any information the agency may have gathered.

Verizon Wireless said it had already asked courts for help
three times this year on customer privacy concerns.

It also received a court order in the summer to stop a
Tennessee-based company from illegally obtaining and selling
confidential customer telephone records.

Also during the summer it received injunctions against
telemarketing companies in Florida and California to stop them
from making illegal sales calls to its customers.

Verizon Communications shares were down 18 cents at $30.48
in morning trading on the New York Stock Exchange.