Bulgarian police trying to investigate telephone fraud are being held back because it takes too long to get access to communication records, even with a court order, Bulgarian Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov said on October 9 2009.

Tsvetanov made the statement in Parliament in response to a question from Ataka Member of Parliament Kalina Krumova.

When he took office as Interior Minister, Tsvetanov announced that he would seek changes to the Electronic Communications Act that would provide speedier access to communication records.

According to Tsvetanov, mobile operators often delay handing over communication data by one to two weeks.

Currently, all mobile and internet communication data is directly accessible from a terminal at the Operative-Technical Information Directorate (OTID) at the Interior Ministry.

Tsvetanov wants the OTID to be given the printouts of communication records for police investigation, instead this being given to mobile operators.

Technically, OTID can already provide the required data, but this was not legal, Tsvetanov said.

According to Tsvetanov, several people had been convicted for telephone fraud in 2008, though all convictions resulted in light sentences.

"The Interior Ministry is not responsible for the fact that no heavier sentences have been handed down," Tsvetanov was quoted by Mediapool.bg as saying.

Telephone fraud is a relatively new type of fraud, in which potential victims are approached by someone who pretends to be a relative in deep financial and emotional distress.

An often-used version is that of a relative who caused someone's death in a car accident and urgently needs money to get bail.
Purpetrators would use the initial shock that the news causes to potential victims to try to talk them into bringing money to a middleman.

"Fraudsters are well-organised in groups and often have family ties. Since 2007, through the media, the Interior Ministry has informed the public about this kind of fraud, and instructed citizens on how to act in such cases, as well as providing telephone hotlines," Tsvetanov was quoted as saying.