DOJ Claims ATandT Let Crooks Abuse Program for the Deaf

The Justice Department has filed a lawsuit against AT&T, claiming the carrier knew Nigerian-based crooks were abusing a program created for hearing-impaired users.
The U.S. Department of Justice is accusing AT&T of knowing that a free program set up to aid deaf and hard-of-hearing Americans was being abused primarily by Nigerian thieves, costing the government more than $16 million that it had paid to the carrier to support the program.

The Associated Press reported March 22 that the Justice Department had filed the lawsuit, explaining that the federal government ordered all carriers to register their users, after it was discovered that callers from overseas were using the system to purchase goods with stolen credit cards and counterfeit checks.

By BLOOMBERG
Published: March 22, 2012

The Justice Department has accused AT&T of knowing that a calling service it offered for the deaf was being used by Nigerian swindlers and others to steal from American merchants.

The department, which intervened in a whistle-blower lawsuit in federal court in Pittsburgh on Wednesday, contends that AT&T allowed an Internet-based phone system to be overrun by criminals and then improperly billed the government to reimburse the calls in violation of the False Claims Act. Prosecutors said AT&T received more than $16 million from the government to offer the calling services.