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From: axial3/25/2012 4:51:06 PM
   of 46821
 
AT&T profiting from Nigerian scammers, DoJ charges

Lawsuit alleges abuse costing taxpayers 'millions'

'It seems that ne'er-do-wells have been fraudulently using IP Relay to defraud US retail outfits by using the service to purcase goods with stolen credit cards. The catch – and the reason for the suit – is that AT&T is paid about $1.30 for each minute of all IP Relay calls it hosts, and the US government, which subsidizes the service, has paid the company handsomely for IP Relay calls that the DoJ says AT&T should have known were fradulent. How handsomely? The DoJ says that such payments to AT&T have added up to "millions of dollars."

In 2009, the Federal Communications Commission, aware that IP Relay fraud was rampant, began a program in which service providers such as AT&T were required to register users of the service, in an effort to cut down on illegal use of the system by foreign scammers, many of whom were located in – wait for it – Nigeria. When announcing Thursday's court filing, the DoJ said, "The United States alleges that AT&T violated the False Claims Act by facilitating and seeking federal payment for IP Relay calls by international callers who were ineligible for the service and sought to use it for fraudulent purposes."

The False Claims Act was initiated as a way for whistleblowers within a company to call foul on their employers when they suspected that fraud was being committed in government contracts. In this case, said whistleblower was one Constance Lyttle, who worked in one of AT&T's IP Relay call centers.'

theregister.co.uk

Jim
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