50 lines
2.5 KiB
Plaintext
50 lines
2.5 KiB
Plaintext
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<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
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<><><> 17 ARRESTED IN HIGH-TECH PHONE FRAUD <><><>
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<><><> by Lee Catterall and William Green <><><>
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<><><> Brought to you by Skatepunk <><><>
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<><><> CALL: THE METAL AE 201-879-6668 <><><>
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<><><> T.W.G.S.C. 209-526-3194 <><><>
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<><><> PIRATES HOLD 313-559-7199 <><><>
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<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
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HONOLULU-- It was high-tech robbery -- the theft and sale of
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long-distance telephone service.
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Seventeen people in 13 states were arrested Monday. The charge:
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conspiracy to commit access device fraud and wire fraud.
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The victims: U.S. Sprint, MCI Corp., Allnet Corp.,ITT, Tri-Tel
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Communications.
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Their loss: a reported $125 million in the past year.
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Steve Ramsay of the Secret Service said those charged sold access codes
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for $80 to $150 a month.
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An access code -- a telephone credit card number-- allows callers to
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use long-distance phone lines. Calls were billed to that card number.
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The distributors often sold one code to hundreds, maybe thousands of
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people, Ramsey said. Charged to one number in four days: $73,592.
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According to Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Godbey: Computers were
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programmed to call the companies' long distance networks, then enter a
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creditcard number to pay for the call.
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If the number was rejected, the computer kept dialing until one was
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accepted. The successful number then was sold.
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Whoever was assinged the number, got the bill.
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"It was the miracle of technology, the computer took a simple chore and
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did it over and over and over," he said.
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The Secret Service caught them by setting up their own distributorship
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of illegal numbers -- a "sting operation" -- and "making controlled
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diliveries," Ramsey said.
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-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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This appeared in the April 27, 1988 copy of USA today and was typed in on this
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date by Skatepunk! If anyone has any Information not mentioned in this article
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please tell us all!!
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Skatepunk
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