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Look Who's Tracking You
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ShareJune 21, 2006 9:56 AM
Members of the House Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations turn their attention this week to data brokers, those who convince phone carriers to share clients' cell phone records and banks their credit card statements.
James Rapp, one of the first data brokers to tesify, developed his special skill while serving time in the Colorado State Penitentiary for auto theft.
His fellow prison inmates asked him to track down their former girlfriends and wives from names and old, disconnected phone numbers.
When he got out of prison, Rapp started the "Mile High Investigative Service," providing employment and banking information on individuals to lawyers.
Through the years, he moved his business from Colorado to Florida to Utah to Montana and finally back to Colorado. He also changed its name from "Mile High Investigations" to "Phantom Investigations" to "Dirty Deeds Done Dirty Cheap" to "Scanners" and finally to "Touch Tone Information."
During the 1990s, he had a staff of 20 who worked on-site and five to 15 people who worked out of their homes. The client list was close to 1,500.
When the tabloids wanted to know more about actress Calista Flockhart's eating disorder, Rapp found a credit card record which showed visits to doctors' offices. He got credit card information on John Ramsey and even tracked cell phone and landline contacts for Monica Lewinsky during the Clinton administration scandal.
"I would teach our employees how to impersonate someone so that the person on the other end of the line would feel either sympathy or pressure, whatever it took for them to release to me the information that I needed," Rapp said. "The person or customer service representative on the other end of the line usually truly wants to help (most of the time anyway) so I use that to my advantage and convince them that they need to give me certain specific data."
Rapp's testimony comes on the first of two days of hearings on data brokers before the House Subcommittee.
June 21, 2006 | Permalink | User Comments (13)
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If Rapp used fictitious names and impersonated persons or positions of authority using the telephone services, why is this not an FCC violation and he not prosecuted?
Posted by: Ed Medeiros | Jun 21, 2006 10:57:33 AM
A man after Karl Rove's heart and a job in the upcoming election cycles, I'm sure. Cons R Us will be the repubs byline for the november selections and the usa will bite, hook, line, and sinker.
Posted by: frodaddy | Jun 21, 2006 12:58:36 PM
Damn good question. I just love how our tax paying dollars contribute to inmates "educations". If he was returned to prison for these offenses, wonder what new stuff he'd utilize upon release??
Posted by: Laurie Hunt | Jun 21, 2006 1:28:35 PM
There is actually a name for the technique James Rapp used to gather all this private information. It's called Social Engineering and was one of the main hacker techniques the famous hacker Kevin Mitnick used. This has been known in hacker circles for a long time.
Posted by: John Bissell | Jun 21, 2006 1:37:58 PM
It appears by this man's own testimony that ha admitted to committing fraud. He should be investigated and charged with mutliple felonies and every state he commited these acts in.
Posted by: Dan | Jun 21, 2006 2:09:07 PM
White collar crime! Why aren't all the 'customers' of this criminal being hauled in for invasion of privacy violations? Why aren't his employees being hauled in to answer for the same?
Does anyone even care anymore??
Posted by: David O'Neill | Jun 21, 2006 2:15:31 PM
ABC NEWS, Thank you for doing a good job.
My question is WHY does a criminal...whose is imprisioned....and supposed to lose all rights to freedom....have a computer at his disposal???? WHY does he have access to the internet where innocent people are thinking they are dealing with HONEST people in the community?????
Is prison a hotel, resort, with privledges some law abiding citizens don't have?????
It is a haven for lazy criminals at my expense????
WHERE ARE MY REPRESENTATIVES???????
Are our represenatives afraid to take away privledges of inmates because they identify with them or are afraid they could be one someday??????
We need some ETHICS trained, and honest people instead of LAWYERS in office!
Shar
Posted by: Shar | Jun 21, 2006 5:06:02 PM
No wonder the rest of the world hates us... I live here and I hate us. It seems our government cares only that the tax dollars keep rolling in, there's success in this year's elections and they spread their style of democracy world wide, so what if a few thousand peasents get killed or otherwise ruined in the process, right? In the 21st century information is power... well my friends power corrupts... and absolute power corrupts absoulutely. I think I'll move to France and rent an apartment from Johnny Depp just to get away from all the buffoonery.
Posted by: John Jacklin | Jun 21, 2006 6:22:16 PM
Nice post Shar, no doubt! What is the world just blind to what is happening to our Republic? Things seem to have gone mad, we got MAJOR problems and many keep their head in the sand. The are tricked and scared into believing this stuff is ok! It is tragic for the ones of us who still believe in law and justic, and in America for that matter. It takes a toll, no doubt. There is the rest of the world out there that hates us right now, this bubble cannot stand on its' own no matter what they say!
Posted by: J | Jun 21, 2006 8:00:19 PM
Realize that someone like this would likely not go in front of congress and testify about his own criminal acts without some grant of immunity. The Fifth Ammendment protects us all.
Posted by: Kyle | Jun 22, 2006 7:41:06 AM
Elected government officials using the LEGAL loopholes to circumvent the privacy laws, our "Bill of Rights",and the chipping away of OUR "Constitution". How did these people get elected?? The Religious right bought them for a vote and you people thought the only way to take over a government was through bloodshed??? WAKE UP PEOPLE if you really value ALL fundimental rights. not just religious ones...
Posted by: Bonnie | Jun 22, 2006 8:34:16 AM
Let's remember...he's a crimminal. Yes, he was taught computer skills in prison, but HE chose to use those skills and his natural born lying skills, to invade other people's privacy and committ these violations. If people, convicted or otherwise, are intent on deceiving, they will find a way to do it.
Posted by: Lee | Jun 22, 2006 11:36:07 AM
We keep getting wake up calls.
James Rapp's testimony, as I listened to it, was a wake up call to a reality that some of us find hard to face.
But, the question of the day is what to do now that we're awaken.
Posted by: Vincent | Jun 24, 2006 1:06:35 PM
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