Verizon: Call records of 'fewer than 500' customers breached

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) - A Verizon Wireless spokeswoman says it appears that "fewer than 500 customers" had their private information accessed in 2014 in a federal computer breach case involving a former Verizon Wireless network technician.

Federal prosecutors say the ex-employee, Daniel Eugene Traeger, used company computers to obtain customers' private call records - plus data showing where customers' phones were - and then sold them to an unnamed private investigator. He worked in the Birmingham, Alabama, area.

Court records don't say how many customers were affected.

But Verizon Wireless spokeswoman Kate Jay said in a statement to The Associated Press that it appears the information of fewer than 500 customers may have been accessed in 2014.

Court records show Traeger pleaded guilty to a felony count of unauthorized access to a protected computer as part of a plea deal.