The largest wireless carrier in the United States, Verizon, became a victim of a scam that allowed a man impersonating a police officer to obtain a female customer’s home address and phone data. The man, named Robert Michael Glauner, was later charged with stalking and fraud in connection with obtaining the confidential phone records of the victim, with whom he had a previous romantic relationship.

Glauner was able to obtain the victim’s personal information by sending an email and a fake search warrant to VSAT, the Verizon Security Assistance Team. The email was sent from a Proton Mail address, and Verizon failed to recognize that it was not a legitimate request for customer information from a legitimate police department or government agency.

The email contained a fake affidavit written by someone claiming to be a Detective from the Cary, North Carolina Police Department, requesting the victim’s new phone number, call records, locations, and text messages. The signature on the forged document was approved by a Superior Court Judge, and the Security Assistance Team received a phone call from the bogus detective, who requested information under the guise of investigating a homicide.

The scammer was eventually able to obtain the victim’s phone records, including her address and phone logs, from Verizon. The incident, first reported by 404Media, revealed that the victim met the scammer on the dating section of a porn website, xHamster, and after obtaining her address, he traveled to North Carolina to meet her, sending threatening messages in the process.

It’s important to note that Verizon is cooperating with law enforcement officials. At the time of the fraudulent actions, Glauner was wanted by the San Diego Sheriff’s Office on charges of stalking an ex-girlfriend.

This incident shines a light on the importance of verifying the legitimacy of requests for sensitive customer information, even from seemingly legitimate sources.