Introduction

Hewlett-Packard (HP) is a company that is known for its “leadership in corporate ethics and responsibility.” (2) Under the “Business Ethics” section of their web-site, they make the following claim, “Our ethical standards and shared values form the cornerstone of our culture of uncompromising integrity.” (2) The statement goes on to say, “Our culture of integrity and accountability, and our performance culture go hand-in-hand. We win, both as individuals and as a company, by doing the right thing. We foster an environment that is open and transparent.” (2) If those statements are an accurate depiction of HP, then how could one senior executive of the board of directors change the image of an entire company? It can be done by hiring a team of independent, electronic-security experts who obtained the personal telephone records of HP board members and several journalists, using an investigative method called, “pretexting.” (1) What is pretexting and what makes it illegal? Pretexting is a data mining scam that involves a person assuming the guise of another person in order to obtain personal and confidential information from an unsuspecting target. In a pretexting scam, the claim of legitimacy is a ruse by the pretexting scam who has formulated a “pretext” to retrieve privatized information that they are not entitled to have. Pretexters seek to retrieve personal information in the form of: Social Security Numbers (SSN), Telephone records, Bank account numbers, Credit card account numbers. Because of the nature of the information that is being sought after, pretexting could eventually lead to identity theft. Pretexters have a variety of tactics they use in an attempt to gain personal information, and most tactics include a multilayer of steps to increase the credibility of the scheme. Most schemes include emotionally charged scenarios and the