Text Hackers Hassle Houston Zoo

Houston Zoo officials say they’ve asked the FBI to help track down an apparent cell-phone hacker who is inundating their switchboard with phone calls.

Zoo officials told the Houston Chronicle the text messages feature the zoo’s phone number and a cryptic message urging the recipient to call.

The result has been surges of calls. The zoo received 3,500 Sunday, which is about 10 times the normal rate.

We had hoped the problem would blow over, but the calls keep coming and coming, said zoo spokesman Brian Hill.

The suspicion is that the hacker somehow got into mobile phone systems and gained access to the address books stored in individual cell phones. Once inside, a bot begins churning out text messages to the folks in the address book.

Cell carriers said they could find no evidence their systems had been compromised; however, recipients were urged not to respond to any suspicious texts — especially if they contained the zoo’s phone number.