By: Anthony Rifilato
The Department of Homeland Security is looking into mysterious international phone calls that were made using the telephone lines of several residents of Central Avenue in Baldwin, the Herald has learned.
Nassau County's deputy commissioner of consumer affairs, James Reed, said that he contacted the department shortly after he spoke with residents who were being charged thousands of dollars on their Verizon phone bills for international calls that they did not make.
"They said they have had other cases like this, but they are not related to homeland security," said Reed. "They're really fraud, theft-of-service type events." Nevertheless, Reed said, the department is looking into the matter. "They're going to take a close look at it," he said.
Since September, residents who live near the corner of Central Avenue and Clinton Place have noticed that they were being billed for international calls to African, European and Middle Eastern countries. When they began comparing their Verizon bills, they found that many of the calls were being made to the same phone numbers in the same countries, some at virtually the same times. In addition to their inflated phone bills, they grew alarmed at the possibility of illegal or terrorist activity.
Reed said that once the residents provide him with more telephone bills, he will turn them over to Homeland Security, which will look more closely at the phone numbers that have "foreign flavor," meaning calls that were made to African countries such as Mali, as well as some European and Middle Eastern nations.
"You don't know where terrorist activities take place," said Reed. He said that most likely, somebody is simply tapping into the phone lines, and that it's probably a case of fraud, and not, he hopes, terrorism. "I'd be more secure if it turned out to be theft of service," he said.
Since the Herald ran an article last month about the mysterious charges, the issue has gained media attention from the WB's News at Ten and WINS radio, and a few more residents have come forward and said they are getting hit with similar charges for international calls.
Most important, residents received a response from Verizon, after pleading with the company for months to look into the charges and getting no response. "People are finally taking notice of it," said Judy Mastroianni, one of the residents who has been billed for the mysterious calls. "When five or six people come out and say, 'Hey, what's going on?' something is wrong."
Residents have since been able to secure blocks on international calls while maintaining their long-distance service from Verizon. They have also been assured that there will be no further charges, and that the company is conducting its own investigation.
Mastroianni said that while their phone bills are in the process of being corrected, her neighbors are still wondering who was behind the phone calls. "Nobody is telling us who was making the calls," she said.
For the time being, said Reed, at least residents can take comfort in the fact that the issue is being dealt with, while efforts are made to discover the culprit or culprits. "They [residents] are finally getting some satisfaction," said Reed.
