Phone hackers discovered by system service business
Source: Seacoastonline.com
A Raymond company has uncovered an unusual telephone-hacking scheme that could cost businesses big bucks when they get their phone bill.
John Laurence, owner of Telephone Systems Consultation and Maintenance, said his company has discovered that hackers are breaking into business voice-mail systems to make long-distance calls and send numerical codes to the Philippines.
Company technicians have spent the last few weeks helping businesses repair their voice-mail systems after they were hit. The phone systems being attacked are all a brand made by Panasonic, Laurence said.
The problem was first discovered when Laurence’s company, which sells and installs telephone and voice-mail systems for businesses here and across the country, began receiving calls from clients reporting that their voice mail wasn’t working properly. Some businesses have discovered problems when they attempt to retrieve messages but find their voice-mail is not accessible.
After investigating the complaints, Laurence said his company found several cases where someone, presumably a hacker familiar with phone systems, managed to call businesses at night and alter their voice mail systems by creating a new mailbox that the person could then use to dial long-distance phone calls from an unknown location. Many of the bogus calls from business voice mail systems were made to the Philippines, Laurence said.
Technicians haven’t been able to trace the location where the calls from the hacker originated, nor do they know to whom the overseas numbers that were called belong.
