The Federal Trade Commission has halted an operation that it says obtained consumers’ confidential phone records without their knowledge or consent and sold them to third parties.

Named as defendants in an FTC complaint were Action Research Group Inc.; its principals, Joseph and Matthew DePantes; Eye in the Sky Investigations Inc.’ Cassandra Selvage; and Bryan Wagner.

The defendants are barred from obtaining consumers’ telephone records without their consent and court orders impose judgments on the defendants totaling more than $600,000, according the FTC.

The complaint alleges that the defendants sold confidential customer phone records, including lists of calls made and the dates, times, and duration, to third parties, without the knowledge of the customers.

Eye in the Sky, Selvage and Wagner obtained the data from phone companies through “pretexting.” This is the practice of accessing phone company records using fraudulent statements or posing as an account holder or employee, according to the FTC.

Selling the records constitutes an invasion of privacy that could endanger the health and safety of consumers, the FTC states.

The DePantes and ARG agreed to settle the FTC charges. Selvage and Wagner are subject to default judgments entered by the court, according to the FTC.

The settlement and default judgments permanently bar the defendants from obtaining, marketing or selling customer phone records or consumers’ personal information derived from those records, the FTC continues.

They also bar the defendants from pretexting or using others to pretext to obtain consumers’ information.

In addition, the DePantes and ARG were hit with a  $67,000 judgment, the amount they reportedly earned from their activities.

The judgment was suspended upon a payment of $3,000 based on the defendants’ inability to pay, the FTC stated.

In the default judgments, the court ordered Wagner to give up $428,085 and ESI and Selvage to pay $110,762, according to the FTC.

The case is on file with the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida.