Shock for business as phone system hacking leads to £9,000 calls bill

A business was shocked to discover that its phone system had been hacked, leading to a £9,000 calls bill.

WH Brand, a car dealership in Whaplode Drove, found out on Monday that its voicemail had been compromised and expensive calls to foreign countries such as Sudan had been made from its lines.
Calls to one mobile number had racked up charges of £5,000.
The process had been ongoing since about July 1.

Sales manager Adam Brand said: “People were telling us that they weren’t able to phone us and that the line was engaged.

“Initially we just thought they were calling when we were all on the phone but this went on for a long time.
“We had BT checking the lines and we had started looking into replacing the phone system when our phone provider noticed all sorts of foreign calls going out at all times.

“It was found that someone had hacked into our system somehow via a line that is our voicemail system – the night answering service – and they had been able to use our lines.”

The business, which has insurance against cyber crime which should cover the incident, was advised to pass on the details to a Met Police department.