WIRED Staff
Security

Feds Outsource Social Engineering

Companies that use “pretexting” to wheedle private phone records out of companies and consumers count the FBI and DHS among their clients, according to the newest issue of Time. Patrick Baird, vice president of PDJ investigations, says that in its six years the company has supplied information for between 200 and 300 law enforcement cases. […]

Companies that use "pretexting" to wheedle private phone records out of companies and consumers count the FBI and DHS among their clients, according to the newest issue of Time.

Patrick Baird, vice president of PDJ investigations, says that in its six years the company has supplied information for between 200 and 300 law enforcement cases. He said the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security were among the company's past clients. But Baird said most of the time these agencies (and most of PDJ's other customers) ask simply for the name and address attached to a specific phone number, not for complete call records.

Both the FBI and the DHS denied any wrongdoing.

This could help explain why both agencies are actively opposing a proposal in front of the FCC aimed at cutting back on this kind of phone records theft. The plan would cap the length of time of phone companies can keep sensitive consumer data.