Organised crime gangs have been placing moles inside companies to gain protected information that is used to commit serious and violent crimes including extortion, drug trafficking and attempted murder.

The infiltration of these organisations – via workers such as customer service and call centre staff, real estate agents and lawyers – has been flagged as a significant threat by federal and state law enforcement agencies.

The underworld has access to compromised workers who sell personal information for as little as $250 or have been embedded inside companies specifically to “leak” to criminal syndicates, according to five police and underworld sources with direct knowledge of the problem.

The information has been used to set up attempted hits and bashings, to run extortions and to crea

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