TAMPA - A Temple Terrace company is at the center of a state investigation into the sale of cellular phone records.

Attorney General Charlie Crist is charging Global Information Group with unlawfully obtaining and selling confidential telephone records without customer consent.

"This is yet another outrageous example of invading an individual’s privacy for financial gain," Crist said in a statement.

The state says Global employees placed thousands of calls seeking unauthorized information from several telephone companies. Global then sold that data, a lawsuit alleges.

Attempts to reach Global via three published telephone numbers were unsuccessful Friday.

Allyson von Holten, a spokeswoman for Global Information Group, previously told The Tampa Tribune that Global is a legitimate "skip trace" firm hired by credit companies to find people who fail to pay debts.

Crist’s office thinks otherwise.

Verizon Wireless took Global to court in November, claiming the company made more than 5,000 calls in a four-week period to Verizon’s customer service centers and impersonated employees trying to help a customer with a speech impediment.  The scam was aimed at stealing account numbers and other data, Verizon claimed.

"We simply will not tolerate fraudulent schemes that prey on our company and our customers," said Verizon Vice President Steven Zipperstein in a statement.

Crist is prosecuting Global for suspected violation of Florida’s Unfair and Deceptive Practices Act, which carries penalties of $10,000 to $15,000 per violation.