AOL Customer Support Rep Took Private Info To Befriend Stars
from the what's-been-done-with-your-info? dept
John submits this somewhat scary (and a little bit "too good to be true") story of a young woman who worked at AOL as a customer support rep. She used her access to AOL's database to find out information about various celebrities who were AOL customers and then contacted and befriended many of them using that info that she had accessed. She used those sneaky friendships to sell two screenplays - with the second one being all about someone who steals confidential info from a big ISP to befriend celebrities. If it is true, though, it certainly sounds like a Mitnick-style case of social engineering - with the target being all of Hollywood, rather than big companies. Also interesting is the fact that not too many people seem to be concerned that she had such access to AOL customer info, and that she used it in this manner.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
