AT&T; settles suits involving customer data

AT&T; Inc. said it had settled with 13 data brokers it accused of fraudulently obtaining customer phone records after the brokers agreed to an undisclosed cash settlement and not to seek customer data in the future.

The agreements, the result of lawsuits filed in San Antonio and San Francisco, were all reached within the last month, an AT&T; spokesman said. Two other settlements are expected to be entered in the next few days.

The lawsuits were AT&T;’s first involving so-called pretexting, in which customer data are accessed by data brokers posing as customers to get unauthorized online accounts where they could see calling records and other information.