somewhere or maybe it is just nice to know them anyways.
SSS: Strowger Switching System. First non-operator system
available.
WES: Western Electronics Switching. Used about 40 years ago
with some minor places out west.
Boxing:
The use of personally designed boxes that emit or cancel electronical impulses that
allow simpler acting while phreaking. Through the use of separate boxes, you
can accomplish most feats possible with or without the control of an operator.
Some boxes and their functions are listed below. Ones marked with '*' indicate
that they are not operatable in ESS.
*Black Box:Makes it seem to the phone company that the phone was
never picked up.
Blue Box: Emits a 2600hz tone that allows you to do such things as
stack a trunk line, kick the operator off line, and others.
Red Box: Simulates the noise of a quarter, nickel, or dime being
dropped into a payphone.
Cheese Box: Turns your home phone into a pay phone to throw off
traces (a red box is usually needed in order to call out.)
*Clear Box: Gives you a dial tone on some of the old SxS payphones
without putting in a coin.
Beige Box: A simpler produced linesman's handset that allows you to tap
into phone lines and extract by eavesdropping, or crossing wires, etc.
Purple Box: Makes all calls made out from your house seem to be local
calls.
ANI [ANI]:
Automatic Number Identification. A service available on ESS that allows a phone
service [see Dialups below] to record the number that any certain code was
dialed from along with the number that was called and print both of these on
the customer bill.
dialups [see Dialups below] are all designed just to use ANI. Some of the services
do not have the proper equipment to read the ANI impulses yet, but it is
impossible to see which is which without being busted or not busted first.
Dialups [dy'l'ups]:
Any local or 800 extended outlet that allows instant access to any service such as
MCI, Sprint, or AT&T that from there can be used by hand-picking or using a
program to reveal other peoples codes which can then be used moderately until
they find out about it and you must switch to another code (preferably before
they find out about it.)
Dialups are extremely common on both senses. Some dialups reveal the company
that operates them as soon as you hear the tone. Others are much harder and
some you may never be able to identify. A small list of dialups:
1-800-421-9438 (5 digit codes)
1-800-547-6754 (6 digit codes)
1-800-345-0008 (6 digit codes)
1-800-734-3478 (6 digit codes)
1-800-222-2255 (5 digit codes)
Codes: Codes are very easily accessed procedures when you call a dialup. They will
give you some sort of tone. If the tone does not end in 3 seconds, then punch
in the code and immediately following the code, the number you are dialing but
strike the '1' in the beginning out first. If the tone does end, then punch in the
code when the tone ends. Then, it will give you another tone. Punch in the
number you are dialing, or a '9'. If you punch in a '9' and the tone stops, then
you messed up a little. If you punch in a tone and the tone continues, then
simply dial then number you are calling without the '1'.
All codes are not universal. The only type that I know of that is truly universal is
Metrophone. Almost every major city has a local Metro dialup (for Philadelphia,
(215)351-0100/0126) and since the codes are universal, almost every phreak
has used them once or twice. They do not employ ANI in any outlets that I
know of, so feel free to check through your books and call 555-1212 or, as a
more devious manor, subscribe yourself. Then, never use your own code. That
way, if they check up on you due to your caller log, they can usually find out
that you are subscribed. Not only that but you could set a phreak hacker
around that area and just let it hack away, since they usually group them, and,
as a bonus, you will have their local dialup.
950's. They seem like a perfectly cool phreakers dream. They are free from your
house, from payphones, from everywhere, and they host all of the major long
distance companies (950)1044
950-1033
is the point, end of discussion.
A phreak dictionary. If you remember all of the things contained on that file up there,
you may have a better chance of doing whatever it is you do. This next section is maybe a
little more interesting...
Blue Box Plans:
These are some blue box plans, but first, be warned, there have been 2600hz tone
detectors out on operator trunk lines since XB4. The idea behind it is to use a 2600hz
tone for a few very naughty functions that can really make your day lighten up. But first,
here are the plans, or the heart of the file:
700 : 1 : 2 : 4 : 7 : 11 :
900 : + : 3 : 5 : 8 : 12 :
1100 : + : + : 6 : 9 : KP :
1300 : + : + : + : 10 : KP2 :
1500 : + : + : + : + : ST :
: 700 : 900 :1100 :1300 :1500 :
Stop! Before you diehard users start piecing those little tone tidbits together, there is a
simpler method. If you have an Apple-Cat with a program like Cat's Meow IV, then you can
generate the necessary tones, the 2600hz tone, the KP tone, the KP2 tone, and the ST
tone through the dial section. So if you have that I will assume you can boot it up and it
works, and I'll do you the favor of telling you and the other users what to do with the blue
box now that you have somehow constructed it. The connection to an operator is one of the
most well known and used ways of having fun with your blue box. You simply dial a TSPS
(Traffic Service Positioning Station, or the operator you get when you dial '0') and blow a
2600hz tone through the line. Watch out! Do not dial this direct! After you have done
that, it is quite simple to have fun with it. Blow a KP tone to start a call, a ST tone to stop
it, and a 2600hz tone to hang up. Once you have connected to it, here are some fun
numbers to call with it:
0-700-456-1000 Teleconference (free, because you are the operator!)
(Area code)-101 Toll Switching
(Area code)-121 Local Operator (hehe)
(Area code)-131 Information
(Area code)-141 Rate & Route
(Area code)-181 Coin Refund Operator
(Area code)-11511 Conference operator (when you dial 800-544-6363)
Well, those were the tone matrix controllers for the blue box and some other helpful
stuff to help you to start out with. But those are only the functions with the operator.
There are other k-fun things you can do with it.
More advanced Blue Box Stuff:
Oops. Small mistake up there. I forgot tone lengths. Um, you blow a tone pair out for up to
1/10 of a second with another 1/10 second for silence between the digits. KP tones should
be sent for 2/10 of a second. One way to confuse the 2600hz traps is to send pink noise
over the channel (for all of you that have decent BSR equalizers, there is major pink noise
in there.)
Using the operator functions is the use of the 'inward' trunk line. That is working it from
the inside. From the 'outward' trunk, you can do such things as make emergency
breakthrough calls, tap into lines, busy all of the lines in any trunk (called 'stacking'),
enable or disable the TSPS's, and for some 4a systems you can even re-route calls to
anywhere.
All right. The one thing that every complete phreak guide should be without is blue box
plans, since they were once a vital part of phreaking. Another thing that every complete
file needs is a complete listing of all of the 800 numbers around so you can have some more
fun.
/-/ 800 Dialup Listings /-/
1-800-345-0008 (6) 1-800-547-6754 (6)
1-800-245-4890 (4) 1-800-327-9136 (4)
1-800-526-5305 (8) 1-800-858-9000 (3)
1-800-437-9895 (7) 1-800-245-7508 (5)
1-800-343-1844 (4) 1-800-322-1415 (6)
1-800-437-3478 (6) 1-800-325-7222 (6)
All right, set Cat Hacker 1.0 on those numbers and have a fuck of a day. That is enough
with 800 codes, by the time this gets around to you I don't know what state those codes
will be in, but try them all out anyways and see what you get. On some 800 services now,
they have an operator who will answer and ask you for your code, and then your name.
Some will switch back and forth between voice and tone verification, you can never be
quite sure which you will be up against.
Armed with this knowledge you should be having a pretty good time phreaking now. But
class isn't over yet, there are still a couple important rules that you should know. If you
hear continual clicking on the line, then you should assume that an operator is messing with
something, maybe even listening in on you. It is a good idea to call someone back when the
phone starts doing that. If you were using a code, use a different code and/or service to
call him back.
A good way to detect if a code has gone bad or not is to listen when the number has been
dialed. If the code is bad you will probably hear the phone ringing more clearly and more
quickly than if you were using a different code. If someone answers voice to it then you
can immediately assume that it is an operative for whatever company you are using. The
famed '311311' code for Metro is one of those. You would have to be quite stupid to
actually respond, because whoever you ask for the operator will always say 'He's not in
right now, can I have him call you back?' and then they will ask for your name and phone
number. Some of the more sophisticated companies will actually give you a carrier on a line
that is supposed to give you a carrier and then just have garbage flow across the screen
like it would with a bad connection. That is a feeble effort to make you think that the
code is still working and maybe get you to dial someone's voice, a good test for the carrier
trick is to dial a number that will give you a carrier that you have never dialed with that
code before, that will allow you to determine whether the code is good or not. For our
next section, a lighter look at some of the things that a phreak should not be without. A
vocabulary.
A few months ago, it was a quite strange world for the modem people out there. But now, a
phreaker's vocabulary is essential if you wanna make a good impression on people when you
post what you know about certain subjects.
/-/ Vocabulary /-/
- Do not misspell except certain exceptions:
phone -> fone
freak -> phreak
- Never substitute 'z's for 's's. (i.e. codez -> codes)
- Never leave many characters after a post (i.e. Hey Dudes!#!@#@!#!@)
- NEVER use the 'k' prefix (k-kool, k-rad, k-whatever)
- Do not abbreviate. (I got lotsa wares w/ docs)
- Never substitute '0' for 'o' (r0dent, l0zer).
- Forget about ye old upper case, it looks ruggyish.
All right, that was to relieve the tension of what is being drilled into your minds at the
moment. Now, however, back to the teaching course. Here are some things you should
know about phones and billings for phones, etc.
LATA: Local Access Transference Area. Some people who live in large cities or areas may
be plagued by this problem. For instance, let's say you live in the 215 area code under the
542 prefix (Ambler, Fort Washington). If you went to dial in a basic Metro code from that
area, for instance, 351-0100, that might not be counted under unlimited local calling
because it is out of your LATA. For some LATA's, you have to dial a '1' without the area
code before you can dial the phone number. That could prove a hassle for us all if you
didn't realize you would be billed for that sort of call. In that way, sometimes, it is better
to be safe than sorry and phreak.
The Caller Log: In ESS regions, for every household around, the phone company has
something on you called a Caller Log. This shows every single number that you dialed, and
things can be arranged so it showed every number that was calling to you. That's one main
disadvantage of ESS, it is mostly computerized so a number scan could be done like that
quite easily. Using a dialup is an easy way to screw that, and is something worth
remembering. Anyways, with the caller log, they check up and see what you dialed. Hmm...
you dialed 15 different 800 numbers that month. Soon they find that you are subscribed
to none of those companies. But that is not the only thing. Most people would imagine "But
wait! 800 numbers don't show up on my phone bill!". To those people, it is a nice thought,
but 800 numbers are picked up on the caller log until right before they are sent off to you.
So they can check right up on you before they send it away and can note the fact that you