Officials: Inmates Hack Crimestoppers, Rack Up $7000 Phone Bill

SC Department of Corrections is disputing claims that inmates "hacked" the Crimestoppers statewide tips line, running up a $7000 phone bill by using the number to place third-party calls.

"At this point in time, no definitive evidence has been presented to us from Crimestoppers or anyone else that phone calls to their lines originated from SCDC facilities or from any of our inmates," says Clark Newsom, communications director for SCDC. "We will continue to monitor the situation and, as always, partner closely with Crimestoppers in their efforts across the state."

He says the prison system is investigating the allegations.

Meanwhile, SC Crimestoppers officials are unwavering in their belief that inmates made the bogus calls.

"We know definitively the calls were made from corrections institutes in the Pee Dee area," says Joey Hudson, President of Greenville County Crimestoppers. "We are still working to see if we can trace the calls back to a specific inmate or inmates."

He says Crimestoppers and its toll-free provider, Telecompute, still have not been able to restrict third-party calls on the 888 number, so at this point prisoners are still blocked from making calls to the number.

ORIGINAL STORY   POSTED 7/8/2011

Until something changes, South Carolina Crimestoppers cannot receive tips from one of their most valuable sources. And they have a big phone bill on their hands -- all thanks, they say, to some crafty inmates.

Crimestoppers officials say an inmate or inmates within the state prison system have somehow hacked the organization's toll free number (888-CRIME-SC), using it to make personal calls and leaving Crimestoppers stuck with a bill of about $7,000.

"Some inmates are very resourceful and have a lot of time on their hands," says Joey Hudson, President of Greenville County Crimestoppers. "We still don't know exactly how they did it or exactly which inmates made the calls. We think they may have originated in the Pee Dee area."

He says people can bill third-party phone numbers for long distance calls, and that may be what happened here, with inmates billing calls to the Crimestoppers number. He says the 888 number was billed for 4,000 calls in one month, which is abnormally high.

"We usually have 25 to 30 calls coming out of the Pee Dee area in one month," says Hudson.

The alleged abuse has led to a larger problem. The company that provides the toll-free number, Telecompute, has blocked calls coming from the state prison system and from pay phones. The calls have been blocked for more than two months now. Crimestoppers relies heavily on tips from inmates inside the system.

"They are a wealth of information," says SC Law Enforcement Divsion Chief Mark Keel. "We want to be able to continue to receive tips from them."

Hudson says he has asked Telecompute to remove the block. Warren Miller of Telecompute tells WSPA he cannot remove the block because Pee Dee Crimestoppers asked him to block the calls from prisons.

"I can't unblock it when a client has asked me to block it," says Miller. "I need to protect myself from incurring extra expenses."

He says he is working with South Carolina Crimestoppers to resolve the issue and has agreed to reduce the amount of the bill to $3000.

Hudson says Miller has agreed to work with carrier AT&T to restrict third-party calling on the Crimestoppers number, which he hopes will curtail the fraudulent calls. After that is done, the block from prisons and pay phones can be removed.

Hudson says the outstanding bill will be paid from Crimestoppers funds which come from private donations.

As for finding out exactly who made the calls, Hudson says the anonymity of the Crimestoppers program will probably make that impossible. But he says investigators have narrowed it down to correctional facilities in the Pee Dee.