A Winnipeg business may be stuck with $52,359.59 in phone charges racked up by an apparent hacker who used the firm's account to make a number of calls to Bulgaria.

On Dec. 9, Alan Davison of HUB Computer Solutions notified Manitoba Telecom Services (MTS) of an unusual code that appeared on his office phone display.

According to Davison, an MTS representative told him that there were a high volume of calls attributed to his company's account on Dec. 7 and advised him to call the company's fraud division.

However, he did not learn the extent of the problem until he received his MTS bill on Dec. 17, and found that a flurry of calls to Bulgaria were made between Nov. 21 and Dec. 9.

MTS is the province's main long-distance supplier.

"Had we not acted on our suspicions and called MTS on Dec. 9, the charges may still be accumulating perhaps into the hundreds of thousands of dollars," Davison said in a letter to CTV News. "I now may be forced to lay off an employee to pay for the bill."

In his letter, Davison said the company should have noticed the high volume of unusual calls on his account. He said he has spoken to other local business owners who have also fallen victim to hackers.

"I realize I cannot hold MTS 100 per cent responsible for these thieves breaking in to our telephone system," Davison said.

"I do however hold MTS Allstream accountable, even negligent for not making significant, effectual efforts to make the business/public community aware of this ongoing criminal activity and the threat it poses to their livelihoods."

Davidson said his company's phone bills are usually modest. A recent long distance bill, for example, amounted to just $13.52 for the month.

How it happened

A phone security expert hired by Davison determined that HUB Computer Solutions' voice mail was compromised by a hacker.

"It's my suspicion that there are people who just sit down and they dial into phone systems, hit voice mail, and endeavor to get into the mailbox," Brett Rhodes, with SME TeleResources, told CTV Winnipeg. Once these hackers get inside, they can call anyone, anywhere.

Rhodes suggests putting a "difficult" password on your voice mail box in order to make it harder for hackers to break into your phone system.

MTS says this type of phone fraud is rare. MTS spokesperson Jill Gibson told CTV Winnipeg that the company will work with Davison's company, "to come up with something that's mutually agreeable, and to resolve the issue."

But so far, HUB Computer Solutions says it hasn't received any formal offer on a reduced payment from MTS.

Rhodes says businesses are often targeted over people when it comes to this type of fraud, because in order to make these types of long-distance calls a hacker would need a line coming in, and another going out at the same time.

With a report from CTV Winnipeg's Jon Hendricks