£7,000 to hack a phone or bug a computer: Private investigators have detailed price list of illegal services

Bank details for £2,000 and phone bills for £450 also on 'menu' of services

PIs could also use viruses to steal data, including what tax people pay

Their illicit services were used by law firms, insurers and wealthy individuals

Criminal private investigators charged firms up to £7,000 to hack a phone, according to a secret document leaked yesterday.They offered to hack, blag and steal sensitive personal information in a detailed price list of illegal services, a police intelligence report found.Among those fuelling the underworld trade were information hungry law firms, insurers, financiers and wealthy individuals.The Serious Organised Crime Agency (Soca) found intercepting telephone conversations came with a bill of up to £7,000.

Yours for £7,000: Private eyes could eavesdrop conversations for a cash sum, according to Soca. File picture

And private eyes charged the same amount to use computer viruses to steal data from the hard-drives of targets.

Personal bank details could be obtained for £2,000 and one month of itemised phone billing cost £450.

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• Firms hired by Whitehall used rogue private eyes: Revelation means 'secret hacking scandal' has reached doors of Government
• Corrupt private investigators targeted HM Revenue and Customs, BT and British Gas to access sensitive private data

Other services, including getting customer details from utility companies and finding out how much tax people pay, could be purchased for as little as £100.

The price list was compiled in a 2008 report by Soca officials who were deeply concerned at the increasing threat of dodgy private eyes.Yesterday, an uncensored version released on the internet for the first time outlined how private investigators targeted almost every source of official information.

An itemised phone bill for a month would set clients back £450. File picture

Among the public institutions to come under attack were HM Revenue and Customs, the Department of Work and Pensions, the NHS and local authorities.

Other private companies included high street banks, British Gas, British Telecom and mobile phone companies.Rogue private investigators outsourced work to specialist ‘blaggers’ who posed as customers and colleagues to access private information.Using untraceable mobile phones, they often referred to scripts and hints recorded in a document that became known as ‘The Blagger’s Manual’.The incriminating ‘how to’ book of crime was found by police when they raided the offices of one private investigator operating in the London suburbs.

The Soca report, which was previously released in a censored form, was based on the results of five criminal investigations.Among them was Operation Carytid, Scotland Yard original investigation into phone hacking at the News of the World.They found five groups of people were using private investigators to obtain information that they could not get their hands on legitimately.They were those involved in messy divorces, debt collectors trying to find people, insurers investigating claims, criminals who want to frustrate the police and the media.

One of the most prolific private eyes has since come forward to claim that 80% of his clients were not linked to the media.The leak came as pressure continues to pile on Soca and police to name those who may have used criminal private eyes.

MPs, including Keith Vaz, want to find ways of publishing the list

More than 300 companies and individuals may have been identified by police investigating so-called ‘blue chip’ hacking.A list of 102 names has been passed to the Home Affairs Select Committee by Soca on the agreement that they will not be published.So far no-one has been named publicly or prosecuted despite clear evidence that the activities of their snoopers broke the law.Keith Vaz MP, who chairs the Home Affairs Committee, has written to a string of regulators to ask for what guidelines are enforced on the use of private eyes.MPs are concerned that some companies may have turned a blind eye to how they obtained the information because they were desperate for results.Home Secretary Theresa May is expected to announce proposals that will require private detectives to have a licence to operate.

Anyone found guilty of hacking, blagging or other similar offences will be barred from working in the field.

A spokesman for HM Revenue and Customs said it takes expert technical advice to help protect the mass of information it stores.

He said: ‘We take the protection of customer data extremely seriously so we constantly review our processes and procedures in light of developments.’A BT spokesman said staff take their responsibility to protect customers ‘very seriously’ and ‘will not tolerate’ misuse of its databases.A Home Office spokeswoman said: ‘We expect law enforcement agencies to take tough action against criminal behaviour wherever it is identified.’