Revenge by phone, and how best to counteract it - by Captain B Spend enough time on many hacker/phreaker conferences bridges, IRC channels, etc, and you're sure to run into a real scumbag or 2. (If It's a slow day on that particular conf. bridge, IRC channel, etc. Otherwise, expect to run into a lot more of them). And, sooner or later, one of these moronic script kid types may happen to cheese you off to the point where you feel like exacting a little revenge. After all, some just beg for it like that. But, if you're in, say, New York City, and the idiot you can't stand is in California, how do you go about it? For the average Joe Shmoe, it usually all ends right there. But, for a phreak with a bit of knowledge, and some time to spare, this is the point where the games begin. In this file, I'll mention step-by-step my particular way I prefer to go about it all. I'll also explain how best to counteract each tactic, so as to cover all ground, and try to give you a fighting chance if you currently are getting harassed by someone over the phone. Calling someone during the overnight hours while they sleep is the best way to drive 'em nuts. But, you may want to limit it to only 1 call per night, as calling them over and over makes it more obvious to their local phone company that you are in fact harassing them. (After all, if they're a rotten person to begin with, it shouldn't surprise you if they go pissing and moaning to their phone company, and perhaps even the local authorities). All the more reason why I definitely suggest doing anything mentioned here from payphones only. It's always the safest way to do anything not completely legit by phone in the first place. Even if you use *67 and op-divert as well, It's still a good idea to do it this way, since It's more fail-safe. Besides, even with op-diverting, there's probably still going to be some record of the call you placed somewhere on some database. Why leave things to chance? Now, I realize that in smaller towns out in the middle of nowhere, it may be 40 miles down the old dirt road to the nearest payphone at the "last chance" gas station. But, even so, It's no excuse for stupidity. And, calling from home to harass an enemy is just plain dumb. It's the chronically stupid that are caught the quickest and easiest. A true phreak who is good at this stuff understands the vital impotance of exercising discretion, and good common sense as much as possible. Anyway, let's move on to how I go about getting revenge by phone one step at a time. Phase 1- Before you can even get started, you have to first find out the number the low-life in question is calling from. So, how do you do this you ask? If you have caller Id service, that's the first place to start. Or, perhaps you could use *69 if you don't have CID service. But, not all numbers can always be gotten through either of those 2 methods. For instance, if the person used *67, op-diverted, or routed the call through a calling card, or corporate voice mail system's PBX (Private Branch eXchange). In which case, you either won't get the phone number, or you'll get a number other than the one their calling from. I'll talk more about such stuff later on in this file. You could try to lure the person into dropping you voice mail in a toll free voice mail box that passes ANI info (Automatic Number Identification) or, in other words, caller ID. If need be, have some one else, perhaps someone he/she trusts, record on the outgoing greeting of your voice mailbox. Also, you could just as soon use a recording of that person's voice on the outgoing greeting on your voice mailbox. Now, as long as the person calls from home, and as long as It's a listed land-line (not a wireless cell phone or payphone) phone number, you should have him/her. (Although, there are some toll free voice mail boxes that don't seem to pass on the ANI even with someone using *67. But, usually, that won't save them). Once you have the number, It's just a matter of doing a "reverse phone number lookup" via the Internet. There's a number of web sites that you can do reverse lookups through. Here's a few: www.411.com - www.phonenumber.com - www.anywho.com - www.switchboard.com - www.reversephonedirectory.com - www.superpages.com - www.whitepages.com - and more. Find more reverse phone lookup web sites by going to Google and typing in "reverse phone lookup", or simply "reverse lookup". Or, simply punch the 10 digit phone number in a Google search (seperated by hyphens, like so: Nxx-Nxx-xxxx). I think some phone companies also have the ability to do reverse lookups via their web sites. Once you're on a reverse look up web site, It's just a matter of punching in the person's 10 digit phone number. And, the web site will provide you with the results. Which is the name (as it appears on that person's phone bill), the address, city, state and zip code. In other words, everything. Let me point that it is in fact possible to get unlisted info, but It's more difficult. I think whitepages.com claimed they give unlisted phone number info, provided you sign up for an account on there, but I have yet to verify that. Also, there are web sites dedicated to giving this kind of info for a fee, and not a small one, either. But, last I remember, there were 2 kinds of unlisted phone numbers. Ones totally private, that are not to be given out be directory assistance ops, no matter what. And, ones that are to be given out only in emergencies. So, depending on what kind of unlisted number the person has, maybe it could be gotten by claiming that It's an emergency of some type. I'll leave it to you to decide what to do as far as that goes. How best to counteract- Before you start harassing anyone, make sure your number is completely unlisted. And, even then, I still don't recommend you do anything from your home's land-line phone service. Either go to a payphone, a friend's house, or use your cell phone (if you have one). Or, better yet, maybe your friend's cell phone. But, of course if he/she finds out what kind of call you want to make from his/her phone line, don't expect the person to be particularly understanding about it all. I know I wouldn't want someone making calls like that from any phone of mine. But also, you may still want to reconsider using any cell phone, since there's a little concept known as "triangulation" with cell phone service providers, whereby 3 cell towers are used to pinpoint a cell phone user's geographical location down to within a triangular shaped radius. So, there's more to worry about than just simply passing ANI with cell phones. Anyway, moving on, if It's already the case that someone has your info, It's more difficualt to do much about it. Granted, you can change your number, but that can be kind of costly. Although, I think I've heard some cases where people told their phone company that they were changing numbers due to harassing calls, and charges were waived. But, I can't confirm that. After all, corporate America lives for the almighty dollar. But, you can try telling them. I mean, what's the worst they can say but "No. We'll change your number, but not for free". But also, even if you change your number, if the person has your full info (name, address, city, state, zip code) It's even more trouble. After all, even getting your number changed, and having the new number unlisted can't change what a person already knows when it comes to that other info. The best bet is to play it safe, and try to prevent them from ever getting any personal info in the first place. Once again, like with most everything in phone phreaking, good sense and discretion are the key. Phase 2- Even if you have a calling card, or PBX to use, start off by placing collect or 3rd party billing calls to your enemy. And, no, I don't mean through 1-800-Collect, 1-800 Call ATT, or some other toll free number based method of collect calling. Remember, toll free numbers can collect ANI info (Automatic Number Identification, or in other words, Caller ID). And, dialing star 67 or star 82 before placing a toll free call WILL NOT save you, as any toll free number that's logging ANI will STILL receive the ANI info. This also holds true for 1-900 numbers, and calls made to 911. There could possibly be other cases with other dialed numbers where this holds true. Anyway, instead of making collect or 3rd party billed calls through these 800 collect number services, use the standard fare 0+ Area code+ Number. Or, use a 1010 CAC (Carrier Access Code) also known as a "dial around", followed by 0+ Area code+ Number. (If you want, you can dial *67 or *82 before dialing. But, It's not necessary, and I'm not sure it helps anything anyway). In my experience, I found that dialing this way is the same equivilent of op-diverting. Which will mean only your area code, or your area code followed by 000-0000 will be passed along as the ANI. (This is known as ANI-F, or ANI Fail). And, since this Isn't recognized as a valid recognizable Caller ID by CO (Central Office) phone switches, It'll pass along the CID (Caller ID) as being "Out of Area", or "Unknown". I know for fact this method of revenge works, because I once knew a total dirtbag in Baltimore who had Caller ID. Also, he had ACR (Anonymous Call Rejection) for his CID service enabled. But, since dialing someone this way is not the same as blocking a call through the standard *67 or *82 blocking method, it didn't help him. And, to this day, I'm certain he never knew it was me. (Heh, heh, heh!) But, I've heard of some cases in some areas where op-diverting doesn't work quite the same. By the way, if you don't already know, line blocking is a service from your telco (your phone company) that works exactly the same as *67 and *82, except that it automatically blocks all outgoing calls without having to dial *67 or *82 before placing calls. Instead, you use *67, or *82 to unblock your number before placing a call. And, unless your telco is different from mine in this respect, line blocking and all use of *67/*82 is totally free. Even line blocking service has no monthly charges. But, just remember, it doesn't work any better than *67/*82. And also remember that *67/*82 can also be dialed through 1167 and 1182, including even on the old rotary dial service. Now, with 3rd party billing (also know as 3rd number billing) things get even more interesting. Because, if you know a number you want to call, you can try having your enemy pick up the charges. The best kind of thing to try calling this with is some 24hr. party line, like the Seatle Donut, the Cleveland Raven, or perhaps a conference bridge that happens to always be up 24 hours a day. To place a 3rd party billed call, start off the same as if you're dialing a collect call. (Either dial 0+ Area code+ Number. Or, use a 1010 Carrier Access Code followed by 0+ Area code+ Number. And, if you like, you can start by dialing *67 or *82 if you want). After you're connected to the automated operator, choose your method of billing if It's mentioned in the menu, then dial the number you want to bill the call to. Other telecom providers simply have you dial the number you want to bill the call to without having to select the option of 3rd number billing first. Just as with collect calling, you'll be asked to record your name, so they can verify charges. Obviously, you don't do this. Simply make a noise of some type, or something. Anything execept giving your real name in your real voice. And, with certain automated operator services, you'll be able to hear them, and they'll be able to hear you after the called party picks up. If you prefer, you can make noises, or whatever. Of course, the chances of any 3rd party or collect call you've made to the person are bound to not be accepted by the person at that point, since they'll know something is up. But, you could also try be more tactical instead. In other words, if you're pretty certain you can fool the person into thinking that you're someone they know, and would want to talk to, record your name in the imitated voice and name of that person when prompted. Now, of course, with collect calls, It's straightforward, since It's that jerk you'll be talking to. But, with 3rd party calls, if they accept the charges, they'll be disconnected from the line, and the call will go through to the number you wanted to reach. And, of course, the jerk will pick up all charges. So, what you can do is walk away from the payphone with phone off the hook, and leave it that way. Perhaps you could even bring along a handmade "Out of order" sign placed over the coin deposit slot, to try to prevent someone passing by from hanging up and using that payphone. And, if the moron you're exacting revenge on doesn't want to receive any more collect/3rd number calls, the only way to block it is to call the phone company, and have them put "toll restrict" on that line. And, here's the best part: It'll cost him (or his parents) money to do that. And, if the moron you're calling is the type that's always on the phone, and doesn't have call waiting service, you can always use operator services to place an "emergency interupt" call. (Actually, I always say "emergency interupt with call completion", as I'm not sure if It's possible to be connected to the person called unless you say that). But, It's always the case with emergency interupt that the operator tells the person who the call is from (which is the name you gave the operator when asked) and asks the person if they'll free up the line. But, operator services incurr special charges, so you may want to use this only when routing your call through a PBX, or while beige boxing. And yes, there ARE certain PBXs that will let you make 10-10 CAC (Carrier Access) "Dial around" calls, including to the CAC's operator services. But, not all telecom service providers have to ability to do emergency interrupt calls with their operators. I think most RBOC (Regional Bell Operating Companies) do. These would include ones such as Bell South, Pacific Bell, etc. And, I know for sure that AT&T operators have the ability to do emergency interrupt. How best to counteract- Obviously, DON'T accept ANY collect or 3rd party calls from people you don't know. In certain areas, some telcos (phone companies) have "Call Intercept" service (or whatever equivilent name for the service in your area) that has callers on incoming calls that display as "Private" or "Out of Area" or "Unknown" record their name, or enter a passcode. It's a great way to stop those pesky telemarketers as well. Speaking of telemarketers, according to what I read in my local white pages, telemarketers don't have info on people with unlisted numbers. Even so, with many telemarketers using autodialers, you still will ocassionally get some random telemarketing calls. Anyway, once someone has your phone number, and starts trying to collect call or 3rd number billing call you, the only 2 options I'm sure will work is changing the number (and getting the new number unlisted as well), or putting "toll restrict" on your line via your phone company. Other than that, you could either let your answering machine or home voice mail take the call (if you have either one), or simply switch the ringer off on your phone during the overnight hours. 2 other methods are taking your phone off hook for the night, or unplugging the line cord from either the back of the phone, or from the phone jack. You could also try using *57 ("call trace" service) if you want, but It's $1 per use here for my local phone company, and if they're not calling from home in the first place, it won't be too helpful. I'm certain call trace works even when someone blocks through *67 or line blocking, but I'm not sure if it works very well when someone op-diverts, or calls via collect/3rd party billing calls. You could also try talking to your telco about harassing calls if you want. Phase 3- Once you've fully exhausted the collect/3rd party billing call method, It's time to move on to using calling cards and PBX phone numbers(Private Branch eXchange) to dial through. With calling cards, It's simple enough. Either buy one, or copy down to paper the pin/toll free access number from one at a store that sells them, if possible. As always, go to a payphone and op-divert first, then dial into the toll free access number, and enter the pin. It should be mnetioned though that some calling cards don't allow you to dial into it via op-divert. In which case, you'll either get a fast busy signal, or dead silence on the line. Either way, you'll have to dial straight through if that's the case. If you want, you could still at least use *67 before dialing though. It's a shame when a calling card doesn't allow for op-diverting, not only because of better phone number blocking ability, but because op-diverting into a calling card service allows you to bypass that accursed "payphone surcharge" nonsense that they tack onto the call charges. If It's a "time based" phone card (with XX number of minutes availible to use) rather than "cash based" (with X number of dollars/cents availible to use) they still may take away a little extra time from the card, just because It's a payphone you're using. Or, in the case of a cash based calling card, it would be a little extra from the availible funds that they would take away from. Which just goes to show that op-diverting is good for more than just blocking ANI from being passed along, as I said before. By the way, a 3rd way to try to come by a phone card to use is trying to carck a pin. Which, without running some kind of computer program to try to help discover if there's patterns, or any set order, to how a given calling card service creates pins, can be difficult at best. This kind of computer program would probably be called something along the lines of a "phone card pin generator", or something similar. There's been a few times I've found calling card systems with a simple pin of all of the same digit. (For example, 9999999999). Or, a simple sequence like: 1234567890 for instance. But, this seems pretty rare. Even so, I guess It's worth a try, right? If you just can't get a calling card, use a PBX instead. With this method, it all comes down to finding a corporate voice mail system with the ability to dial out on. This requires going into the voice mail boxes on that given voice mail system. If it has the ability to place calls via the VM box, it should announce how to do it in the menus. Sometimes, this first requires dialing 9, then the area code+ number. Or, other times 9+ 1+ area code+ number. (Which can also be represented like so: (9+ 1+ Nxx-Nxx-xxxx). Still other VM systems don't require dialing a 9 first. Whatever you do, don't dial 911, and try to avoid accessing these corporate voice mail systems during the company's business hours. If It's a corporation that always has the automated system picking up and answering calls, even during business hours, perhaps then you could sooner consider trying to do that. Otherwise, you'll have to deal with a live person answering the phone. And, in which case, you'd need to trying getting the person to transfer your call to an extension that you have access to the mailbox of. But of course, if someone usually answers at that given extension, you may as well give that idea up. To get into corporate voice mail boxes requires "logging in" to the VM system. Usually, this is done by hitting either * (star) or # (pound), and then you'll be prompter to enter your mailbox number (which is the same as the extension number). Typically, this will be either 3 or 4 digits long, although some use 5 or more, and other use only 2 digits. Some VM systems have you hit the # key to enter the info, others don't. Just listen carefully to all instructions given by the voice mail system as you go along. If you've entered a mailbox that doesn't exist, or one that can't be accessed remotely, or whatever, It'll tell you so. Once you've successfully entered an existing mailbox, you'll be prompted for a passcode. Which is typically 4 digits long, and as long as It's a VM box still set to the "default" passcode, It'll most likely be a simple sequence. Examples: 1234, 9999, 1111, 0000, or even the VM box/extension number itself as the passcode. Once again, you may be required to hit # to enter the info, or maybe not, depending on which voice mail system is involved. Certainly, more files on voice mail box cracking can be found on the internet. Remember, Google is our friend. So, if need be, search the 'Net for more on that. If you can't get a calling card or corporate voice mail system's PBX to dial out on, you could also beige box at some telco can, TNI, or other phone box. But, that should only be as a last resort, since It's the most chancey prospect of the 3. And, unless you're plugging into the "test jack" inside someone's TNI, you'll likely need to use alligator clips connected to a phone line cord to beige box, of course. Either that, or simply use a lineman's handset (...if you've got one). You could even set that person's line to forward calls coming in from a payphone number(s) to your enemy's phone number. Or, perhaps even an enemy's voice mail number. How best to counteract- This stuff is difficult at best to defend against. But, one method I forgot to mention earlier that can be used in all cases is if you know the number the person is harassing you from, is using "Call Block" service (or whatever your local phone company calls it) to block a list of up to 6 phone numbers from getting through. (In which case, the person's call won't ring through to you, and they'll hear a recording telling them that calls aren't being accepted from that number). Using a similar method with a service called "Select Forward" (as It's called by my telco) you can create a list of up to 6 numbers to forward to a phone number of your choice. Alternately, if you don't have CID (Caller ID) service, and if *69 Isn't helping you much, you could use "Priority Call" (as my telco calls it) to create a "white list" of up to 6 phone numbers. All phone numbers on the list will ring in a special way when a call comes in from any of the numbers, to let you know It's someone from the Priority Call list calling you. All of these services are availible on a "per use" basis, (50 cents per use is the cost here) as well as by subscribing to the any of the services with the local telco. Perhaps another method that could be used is fowarding calls from those numbers to your voice mail box, if you're only interested in trying to divert the person's calls away from you. (Assuming you have a VM box). And remember, ff you don't have caller ID service, you can always try using *69 to find out what number they're calling from. Other than that, the other methods I've mentioned about changing your phone number (and getting the new number unlisted) as well as using *57 (call trace) and talking to your phone company about the harassing calls you've been getting is about all you can do. But, remember the most important I've said here before. It's better to do as much to prevent someone from ever getting your phone number/info in the first place rather than trying to combat the situation after someone has such info on you. Have phun, and always remember to be careful and use your head before doing anything.