A Florida court has ordered a Temple Terrace, Florida, private investigation agency to stop gathering confidential information on Verizon Wireless Inc. customers, Verizon said Wednesday. The telecommunications company sued the agency, called Global Information Group, in an attempt to block the "attempted theft" of its customer information, Verizon said.

Verizon filed suit against Global Information Group (GIG) on Nov. 2, alleging that the company had engaged in various schemes to steal confidential information, "including impersonating Verizon Wireless employees and posing as Verizon Wireless customers," Verizon said in a statement.

That same day, the civil court in Hillsborough County, Florida, issued a restraining order that blocked GIG from seeking further information.

The court also allowed Verizon to seize information that may have been gathered by the investigation agency. That order was executed on Monday by Hillsborough County Sheriff's deputies, Verizon said.

This is not the first time that Verizon Wireless has gone to court over alleged violations of its customers' privacy. Earlier this year, the company was granted a court order against a Tennessee company that was fraudulently gathering and then selling customer telephone records, Verizon said.

IDG News Service

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