Stolen details of 6m phone users hawked on Moscow streets

One of Russia's most extensive and sensitive databases, which contains the mobile phone numbers, home addresses, dates of birth and passport details of up to 6 million people, has been stolen and can now be bought for £8 at markets across Moscow.

The database, which includes details of politicians and businessmen, was stolen from MTS, Russia's largest mobile phone network, and contains all the information given by customers when they sign a contract.

This includes their individual tax number and their usual method of payment. Moscow's phone bills work on a system of credit and are usually paid in advance, so credit card details were not on the database.

Reports have suggested that the database, last updated in September, may have been stolen by a computer hacker.

Another theory is that, when the police seized control of phone servers during the Moscow theatre siege in October in order to monitor all calls made by the hostages and Chechen gunmen, a corrupt officer made a copy of the database for sale on the black market. MTS has denied both explanations.

The disc is easy to come by. The Guardian was offered a copy of the pirated CD from a market stall in Moscow for 400 roubles (£8), the vendor apologising that it did not have a proper printed label. "I made them in a hurry last night," he said.

The disc's database can be searched by name, phone number or address. There is an entry for the mayor of Moscow, Yuri Luzhkov, but the vital details have been wiped.

There was also an entry for a "VV Putin", Russia's president, thought to refer to the phone contract he held while working as a local government official in St Petersburg. The entry's details have also been wiped.

Such theft of information is apparently not illegal under Russian law. Its purchase is legal and pirates face a small fine at most.

However, the information contained on the disc can be used for identity theft. This is where someone uses the personal information of a third party to create a false identity for themselves which is then used to run up false lines of credit, fake credit cards, or other frauds. MTS subscribers have complained that their details have been used by others to open accounts and run up large phone bills for which they are liable.