Feds want records from Welker business

Welker started Universal Communications Co. in 1991. The Loveland firm helps track "missing and hard to find individuals," according to its Web site.

Former Attorney General Ken Salazar successfully sued UCC in 2000, saying it illegally trapped phone numbers from debtors and turned them over to collection agencies.

On its Web site Tuesday, the House Committee on Energy and Commerce posted a letter that it sent to Welker seeking detailed data on how his business operates.

The probe comes at a time when Welker is under fire in the legislature for forwarding a racially charged e-mail about black Hurricane Katrina victims.

UCC is one of at least 15 businesses nationwide under scrutiny by the House committee as it investigates the sale of phone records and other sensitive data amid growing concerns about identity theft.

The investigation came after reports that for $100, customers can go on the Internet and buy billing records of any cell-phone customer.

Another Colorado company, Worldwide Investigations Inc., of Denver, received a similar request for its records last month.

A spokesman for the congressional committee did not respond to questions on whether it had specific information that led it to Welker's company or whether it was targeting information firms in general.

"It is our understanding that UCC owns and operates a Web site that, among other things, is an Internet 'data broker,' " the committee chairman, Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, wrote Welker.

"According to numerous press reports, many data- broker Web sites acquire and sell consumers' personal cell phone records and other personal data, without the knowledge or consent of the owners of those cell phone numbers.

"Even cell phone roaming records are being sold, giving purchasers not only the numbers called, and their dates and times, but also the city and state from which those mobile calls were made."

On its Web site, Universal notes it helps investigators, finance companies and "recovery professionals" find fast and accurate information in part by using a "trap line" to capture phone numbers.

"Our Web interface will allow for a complete reverse search to translate phone numbers into addresses," the Web site says.

"Many investigators leave the trap line as a call-back number with the friends, relatives, and associates of those suspects they are trying to locate. When the suspect returns the call, investigators can immediately speak with the caller or simply drop the caller into a voice mail box."

The Web site also says that customers are to "use these services in a legal manner and adhere to all regulatory guidelines and professional standards."

"UCC does not share information between customers or with any third parties except in cases where required by law," the company disclaimer says.

Welker has until April 14 to to turn over the records.