The German authorities don’t make mistakes often, but when they do, they tend to go big. The latest example involves criminal suspects under investigation who received bills charging them for the fees incurred during the tapping of their own phones.

The trouble began late this past summer, when the provider used by German police and secret services to record third-party calls updated their software, mistakenly adding the names of those tapped to their billing list. With September’s bills, suspects found they were being charged for a connection to a number they didn’t recognize. The number corresponded with a voice mailbox where, unbeknownst to the suspects, their conversations were being recorded. At least 50 people received the invoices, and the final tally is still being investigated.

German law allows wiretapping in high-priority investigations, such as murder, kidnapping and treason. Apparently, there are an estimated 20,000 murderers, kidnappers and traitors in Germany today. :

» Scott Saxon