Hacked Business Stuck With Huge Phone Bill

A Bellevue, Washington, business was victim of phone hackers, leaving it with a $90,000 bill. Reliance Mortgage owner Hank Lo’s average phone bill comes to about $1,000 a month. But his most recent bill from his long-distance provider, Integra, was for almost $90,000, full of international calls to North Korea and South Africa. The phone bill showed that hundreds of calls were made to the two countries on February 5th and 6th, which Integra admits is implausible. Hackers had targeted the mortgage company’s switchboard, so when the international calls were placed, Lo would be billed for them. Integra offered to take about $47,000 off of the bill, leaving Reliance responsible for the remaining $41,000, which the phone company offered a payment plan of $500 a month for the next seven years. “I don’t know, I need help,” Lo said, adding he can’t afford to pay the amount.