Phone 'blagging' methods exposed
Updated on 09 July 2009
The shadowy techniques used by some journalists and private detectives to obtain confidential information are once again under the spotlight as prosecutors are to launch an "urgent examination" of material provided by the police three years ago of alleged phone hacking by the News of the World.
The announcement comes as Police have said they will not be investigating claims thousands of public figures had their phones hacked.
The current allegations recall the News of the World's royal editor, Clive Goodman - who was jailed for four months in 2006 for phone hacking.
Hacking is a relatively straightforward process if the phone's owner has not changed their Pin number, industry experts said at the time of Goodman's jailing.
The Old Bailey heard that a private detective working for Goodman had posed as a credit controller to trick telephone companies into switching people's Pin codes to default numbers, thereby enabling access to their voicemails.
He then passed the Pin numbers on to the journalist so he could listen to the messages.
This is easier than hacking into live mobile phone conversations, which has happened to members of the Royal family in the past but is now much harder because of new digital technology.
A report published by the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) in May 2006 called What Price Privacy? also described how unscrupulous private investigators "blag" their way to getting confidential data.
It said: "Suppliers use two main methods to obtain the information they want: through corruption, or more usually by some form of deception, generally known as 'blagging'.
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