* subscribe at http://techPolice.com Police victimized while probing Internet child porn By TOM ALEX Register Staff Writer 02/09/2001 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Des Moines police investigating child pornography on the Internet got caught in a scam and now owe AT&T $181 for clicking on an address in an e-mail. The Iowa attorney general said the trick that inflated the police phone bill has been trapping people around Iowa. Des Moines police sometimes surf the Internet posing as teen-agers, seeking those distributing child pornography or soliciting juveniles for sex. This time a hacker trapped an officer who was going after a pedophile. AT&T's bill for last month stated that Des Moines police were on an expensive line for 28 minutes in December. The police said they visited the site in question for less than a minute after clicking on a Web address contained in an e-mail. Police believe they were victimized by a hacker who latched onto the police computer phone line to view pornography. They believe the hacker stayed on the line after police walked away from the computer. The porn site is based in Vanuatu, in the southwest Pacific west of Fiji, said Des Moines Police Lt. Richard Singleton. Bob Brammer, spokesman for the Iowa attorney general, said, "We've been getting a couple of complaints a week" about so-called modem-dialing scams. He said sometimes people are surfing the Internet when they unwittingly become disconnected and then reconnected to a long distance line at costs of $2 to $7 a minute. The police department plans to contest the charge. Brammer said AT&T formerly was giving people credit for such calls, but recently stopped that practice. He said the Federal Trade Commission is getting involved. Brammer said parents are commonly among those who complain about a telephone charge to the other side of the world. Sometimes the location is Chad, sometimes Madagascar, sometimes Vanuatu. AT&T did not return a phone call seeking comment. source url: http://desmoinesregister.com/news/stories/c4788993/13751104.html ============================================================ GET A NEXTCARD VISA, in 30 seconds! Get rates as low as 2.9% Intro or 9.9% Fixed APR and no hidden fees. Apply NOW! http://click.topica.com/aaabh5b1dhr0b1uN1Ic/NextCard ============================================================ --via http://techPolice.com archive: http://theMezz.com/cybercrime/archive unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] url: http://theMezz.com/alerts ____________________________________________________________ T O P I C A -- Learn More. Surf Less. Newsletters, Tips and Discussions on Topics You Choose. http://www.topica.com/partner/tag01
