textfiles/phreak/VOICEMAIL/phreak8

                     3RD PARTY FRAUD & VOICE MAIL SYSTEMS
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  3rd Party Dialing was first brought to my attention when it was listed
on my telephone bill.  I was billed by some person(s) without my authorization.
This happened about 3 times on the same bill, and all of the times I got the
charges dropped.

  A few weeks later, after paging through the telephone book for downtown
prefixes, I noticed information on 3rd Party Calling, which included:

HOW TO PLACE 0+ CALLS

Third-Number Calls

1.  Dial "0" + Area Code (if needed) + telephone number.

2.  If you hear a tone, ignore it, and a billing operator will come
    on the line.

3.  Tell the operator you are placing a third number billed called.

4.  Give the Area Code and telephone number you with the charges billed to.

5.  The operator will call that number to verify acceptance of the charges
    on calls from coin pay phones.  No verification on calls from
    non-coin pay phones.

  The line that caught my eye was like #5.  This line pointed out that calls
from pay phones had to be verified, while non pay phones needed no
verification.

  With experience, I found out that sometimes there is nothing a person can do
about unauthorized 3rd Party Calls billed to a another person's number.  A lot
of the times, the operator you call to complain to will simply tell you there's
nothing they can do.

  With this in mind, I realized that you could bill a call to anybody's number
and get away with it, and no charges directed to you.  Although, as many of you
know by now...this not safe.  For one, you are directing attention to yourself
as a Fraudist/Phreak.  Secondly, on the person's bill that your billed the 3rd
Party Call to...that person has your number and where you called.  Bell can
also use that information to take action if they feel it necessary.

  One alternative would be to complete a 3rd Party Billed Call from a pay
phone.  This however brings up a question.  Who is going to accept the charges
if you don't want to pay for it in any way?

Here is what I came up with for 3rd Party Calling Fraud:

  First, you need a (VMS) Voice Mail System/Box.  You need a Centragram or
PhoneMail type VMS to handle the call.  The reason you need these types of
VMS's, is because Centragram/PhoneMail type VMS's are direct dial.  You don't
have to enter a process extension number such as 8509.  These types of VMS's
bring you directly to the box.

  You don't know what Voice Mail Systems are?  Look for a file.  But, here's a
layman's description of VMS's.  You can say that VMS's are distance answering
services.  They are usually set up in other prefixes you can dial in/directly
on to.  They include instructions on how to use them, and have system
passwords.  In respect, they are electronic mail devices...only they use voice
communications instead.  You can find these by scanning, if you have one local.

  Anyways, having a VMS handy...reset your System Greeting to say: "HELLO"
Pause for approximately 5-6 seconds...then say casually, "YEAH SURE."
In between the HELLO and YEAH SURE, the billing operator will say something
like, "JOHN DOE IS BILLING A CALL TO YOUR NUMBER, WILL YOU ACCEPT THE CHARGES?"

  Now go to a pay phone and dial any number anywhere you want, in this
format:  0+612+555+1212.  Ignore the tone you hear for calling card holders,
and wait for an operator to come on.  The operator will announce her/his-self
as a billing operator and ask you how he/she can help you on billing the call.
Tell the operator, "THIS IS A 3RD PARTY CALL, MY NAME IS JOHN." Include a last
name if you wish, but it's not necessary.  No real names of course also.  The
operator will call the VMS and he/she will hear the previous recording of you
saying "HELLO" etc.

  After the operator hears an affirmative from the VMS...the operator will say
thank you, then put the call through.  The only person that gets billed for
the call is the business/person that owns the VMS that you used by hacking the
default password.

  I've found out that you can dial overseas, and anywhere in the United States
this way, with no problems or bad connections.  If you have a portable computer
with an acoustic couple...you can go online.  It would be suggested to do this
in a car, so as not to draw attention during the day.  I've tried to set up a
conference by the 800 Conference Operator and requesting to set up a
conference.  You have to give her the person's numbers and names you want to
conference with...and the number you want to conference billed to.  The
operator will verify this if you are at a pay phone.  I have figured out what
the Conference Operator asked the 3rd Party as of yet...to time the responses
preset on the VMS, but if anyone can, it would prove to be very useful.

  Another technique might be to bill 976's to your VMS if you into that.
Again, you need to attempt to time the perfect responses to the operator's
questions to the 3rd Party.

  *A Word of Warning*:  In most cases, the Operator you handle the 3rd party
call with will stay on the line.  So it's good to have a conversation with
yourself on the VMS for about 30 seconds after connection if you are making a
collect call to the VMS.