Methods, systems, and computer program products for surveillance of messaging service messages in a communications network

A system for intercepting a messaging service message in a communications network and for providing surveillance, the system comprising:

• (a) a communication module for receiving and sending messaging service messages from a communications network;
• (b) a subscriber surveillance database for maintaining a listing of subscribers that have been placed under surveillance;
• and
• (c) a surveillance function for receiving a messaging service message and:
• i. extracting a subscriber identifier from the messaging service message;
• ii. performing a lookup in the surveillance database using the subscriber identifier;
• and
• iii. in response to locating a matching entry in the database, performing a surveillance action.

A computer program product comprising computer executable instructions embodied in a computer readable medium for performing steps comprising:

• (a) receiving a messaging service message;
• (b) identifying the messaging service message as being associated with a subscriber that has been placed under surveillance;
• (c) generating a copy of the messaging service message;
• and
• (d) forwarding the message copy to a surveillance entity.