Verizon Wireless said it obtained an immediate injunction against Florida-based private investigative agency Global Information Group, which the carrier said had attempted to obtain confidential information about its subscribers.
In its lawsuit against the agency, filed Nov. 2 in Hillsborough County, Fla., Verizon claims GIG made “thousands of attempts” to obtain confidential information about its wireless customers without proper authorization and used “various fraudulent `schemes’ to do so, including impersonating Verizon Wireless employees and posing as Verizon Wireless customers.”
The carrier said the injunction prohibits GIG from further attempts to obtain confidential information, any further contact with Verizon Wireless customer service centers, or providing any confidential customer information to third parties. Verizon Wireless said it also obtained an order from the court allowing it to seize any information GIG may have gathered. Hillsborough County Sheriff deputies carried out the order Nov. 7.
“Verizon Wireless will use all the weapons on our legal arsenal to protect our customers’ private and confidential information,” said Steven Zipperstein, general counsel for Verizon Wireless.
Verizon Wireless added that it received a similar court order earlier this year stopping a Tennessee-based company from illegally obtaining and selling confidential customer telephone records. Verizon Wireless also received injunctions in Florida and California preventing telemarketing firms from making sales calls to its wireless customers.
