A computer linked to Bryan Wagner, the Littleton private investigator embroiled in the Hewlett-Packard leak scandal, accessed the records of at least 23 telephone accounts belonging to AT&T customers, according to documents released by California’s attorney general.
The documents show that Wagner’s computer, which he has told investigators he destroyed, accessed the phone records of former HP board member Thom as Perkins, current board member Richard Hackborn and Wall Street Journal reporter Pui-Wing Tam.
California Attorney General Bill Lock yer has issued felony indictments against Wagner, ousted HP chairwoman Patricia Dunn and three others connected to the computer giant’s leak probe.
Dunn, who surrendered to authorities Thursday, ordered the probe last year to find out which board member leaked HP information to reporters. Form- er board member George Keyworth has said he was the source of some leaks.
Wagner, 29, will surrender to authorities in Santa Clara County, Calif., at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, according to his attorney, Stephen Naratil. Wagner will “vigorously” fight the charges, Naratil said.
Lockyer has asked for $50,000 bail for Wagner.
The others charged were former HP attorney Kevin Hunsaker and private investigators Ron DeLia and Matthew De Pante. Hunsaker has already surrendered, and DeLia has agreed to do so. DePante hasn’t contacted authorities, said Lockyer spokesman Tom Dresslar.
Each faces four felony charges of wire fraud, identity theft, conspiracy and illegal use of computer data. The charges each carry a maximum penalty of three years in prison and fines ranging from $10,000 to $25,000.
Wagner’s computer accessed at least 14 AT&T accounts in 2005 and nine more accounts in January and February of this year, according to Lockyer.
Wagner gained access by setting up online accounts using the victims’ phone numbers and the last four digits of their Social Security numbers, the documents allege. In Perkins’ case, Wagner also called AT&T’s customer service and posed as Perkins to access his long-distance account.
Although his computer was destroyed, authorities traced accounts he accessed through a “cookie,” or website tracking file, to which AT&T had access.
Pretexting, or pretending to be someone else to gain access to their personal information, has been widely used by investigators for years, said Denver private investigator Brad Kidwell.
Kidwell said his clients ask him to get phone records of others “all the time,” and one of the best ways to do that is to pretext.
He added that his firm, Fidelity Investigations, no longer pretexts because of the increased scrutiny of the practice.
For example, Colorado enacted a law in the summer making it illegal to possess another person’s phone records with the intent to profit or harm another person with it. The law “will safeguard people’s private cellphone and regular land-line phone records,” said Sen. Ron Tupa, D-Boulder, who sponsored the bill.
