He worked for private investigators but his principal client, accounting for the bulk of his work, he says, was the Sunday Times. Ford worked off the books for the Rupert Murdoch-owned newspaper, never entering its office, but earned, he estimates £40,000 a year from the title alone. Soon after this, in 1998, according to Ford, the Sunday Times decided to bypass the private investigator’s office and commission him directly. Ford worked on story after story; invoices show his work was frequent and sustained. Blagging – using subterfuge to obtain private information from banks, mortgage companies or utility firms – is illegal under the Data Protection Act 1998, which came into force in March 2000.

Source: The Guardian March 07, 2018 08:03 UTC