180 lines
9.7 KiB
Plaintext
180 lines
9.7 KiB
Plaintext
This phile is designed to identify various kinds of ETF (electronic toll
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fraud) devices and to describe thier operation, according to a booklet put
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out by Bell entitled: THE INVESTIGATION AND PROSECUTION OF ELECTRONIC TOLL
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FRAUD DEVICES. (For official use only). There are several different
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types of electronic equipment which may be generally classified as ETF
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devices. The most significant is the "Blue Box". The characteristics of each
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type of device are discussed below.
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-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
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*BLUE BOX*
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----- ----
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The "Blue Box" was so named because of the color of the first one found.
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The design and hardware used in the Blue Box is fairly sophisticated, and its
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size varies from a large piece of apparatus to a miniaturized unit that is
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approximately the size of a "king size" package of cigarettes. The Blue
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Box contains 12 or 13 buttons or switches that emit multi- frequency tones
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characteristic of the tones used in the normal operation of the telephone
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toll (long distance) switching network. The Blue Box enables its user to
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originate fraudulent ("free") toll calls by circumventing toll billing
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equipment. The Blue Box may be directly connected to a phone line, or it may
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be acoustically coupled to a telephone handset by placing the Blue Box's
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speaker next to the trans mitter or the telephone handset. The operation of a
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Blue Box will be dis- cussed in more detail below.
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To understand the nature of a fraudulent Blue Box call, it is necessary to
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understand the basic operation of the Direct Distance Dialing (DDD) telephone
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network. When a DDD call is properly originated, the calling number is
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identified as an integral part of establishing the connection. This may be
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done either automatically or, in some cases, by an operator asking the
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calling party for his telephone number. This information is entered on a tape
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in the Automatic Message Accounting (AMA) office. This tape also contains the
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number assigned to the trunk line over which the call is to be sent. The
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information relating to the call contained on the tape includes: called
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number indentification , time of origination of call, and info that the
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called number answered the call. The time of disconnect at the end of the
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call is also reForded. Although the tape contains info with respect to
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many different calls, the various data entries with respect to a single call
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are eventually correlated to provide billing info for use by your Bell's
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accounting department.
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The typical Blue Box user usually dials a number that will route the call
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into the telephone network without charge. For example, the user will very
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often call a well-known INWATS (toll- free) customer's number. The Blue Box
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user, after gaining this access to the network and, in effect, "seizing"
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control and complete dominion over the line, operates a key on the Blue Box
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which emits a 2600 Hertz (cycles per second) tone. This tone causes the
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switching equipment to release the conn ection to the INWATS customer's line.
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The 2600Hz tone is a signal that the calling party has hung up. The Blue Box
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simulates this condition. However, in fact the local trunk on the calling
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party's end is still connected to the toll network. The Blue Box user now
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operates the "KP" (Key Pulse) key on the Blue Box to notify the toll switch-
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ing equipment that switching signals are about to be emitted. The user then
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pushes the "number" buttons on the Blue Box corresponding to the telephone #
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being called. After doing so he/she operates the "ST" (Start) key to indicate
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to the switching equipment that signalling is complete. If the call is
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completed, only the portion of the original call prior to the emission of
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2600Hz tone is recorded on the AMA tape. The tones emitted by the Blue Box
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are not recorded on the AMA tape. There foref, because the original call to
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the INWATS # is toll-free, no billing is rendered in connection with the
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call.
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Although the above is a description of a typical Blue Box operation using a
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common method of entry into the network, the operation of a Blue Box may vary
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in any one or all of the following respects:
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(a) The Blue Box may include a rotary dial to apply the 2600Hz tone and
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the switching signals. This type of Blue Box is called a "dial pulser" or
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"rotary SF" Blue box.
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(b) Entrance into the DDD toll network may be effected by a pretext call
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to any other toll-free # such as Universal Directory ASSistance (555-1212) or
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any # in the INWATS network, either inter-state or intra- state, working or
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non-working.
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(c) Entrance into the DDD toll network may also be in the form of "short
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haul" calling. A "short haul" call is a call to any # which will result in a
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lesser amount of toll charges than the charges for the call to be completed
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by the Blue Box. For example, a call to Birmingham from Atlanta may cost $.80
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for the first 3 minutes while a call from Atlanta to Los Angeles is $1.85 for
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3 minutes. Thus, a short haul, 3-minute call to Birmingham from Atlanta,
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switched by use of a Blue Box to Los Angeles, would result in a net fraud of
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$1.05 for a 3 minute call.
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(d) A Blue Box may be wired into the telephone line or acoustically
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coupled by placing the speaker of the Blue Box near the transmitter of the
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phone handset. The Blue Box may even be built inside a regular Touch-Tone
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phone, using the phone's pushbuttons for the Blue Box's signalling tones.
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(e) A magnetic tape recording may be used to record the Blue Box tones
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representative of specific phone #'s. Such a tape recording could be used in
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lieu of a Blue Box to fraud- ulently place calls to the phone #'s recorded on
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the magnetic tape.
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All Blue Boxes, except "dial pulse" or "Rotary SF" Blue Boxes, must have
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the following 4 common operating capabilities:
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(a) It must have signalling capability in the form of a 2600Hz tone.
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This tone is used by the toll network to indicate, either by its presence or
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its absence, an "on hook" (idle) or "off hook" (busy) condition of the
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trunk.
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(b) The Blue Box must have a "KP" tones that unlocks or readies the
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multi-frequency reciever at the called end to receive the tones corresponding
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to the called phone #.
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(c) The typical Blue Box must be able to emit MF tones which are used
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to transmit phone #'s over the toll network. Each digit of a phone # is
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represented by a combination of 2 tones . For example, the digit 2 is
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x-mitted by a combination of 700Hz and 1100Hz.
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(d) The Blue Box must have an "ST" key which consists of a combina-
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tion of 2 tones that tell the equipment at the called end that all digits
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have been sent and that the equipment should start switching the call to the
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called number.
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The "Dial Pulser" or "Rotary SF" Blue Box requires only a dial with a
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signalling capability to produce a 2600Hz tone.
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-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
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*BLACK BOX*
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------ ----
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This ETF device is so-named because of the color of the first one found. It
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varies in size and usually has one or two switches or buttons. Attached
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to the telephone line of a called party, the Black Box provides toll-free
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calling *to* that party's line. A Black Box user informs other persons
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beforehand that they will not be charged for any call placed to him. The user
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then operates the device causing a "non-charge" condition ("no answer" or
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"disconnect") to be recorded on the telphone company's billing equip ment. A
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Black Box is relatively simple to construct and is much less sophisti- cated
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than a Blue Box.
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-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
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*Cheese Box*
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------- ----
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This device is so-named for the container in which the first one was found.
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Its design may be crude or very sophisticated. Its size varies; one was found
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the size of a half-dollar.
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A Cheese Box is used most often by bookmakers or betters to place wagers
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without detection from a remote location. The device inter-connects 2 phone
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lines, each having different #'s but each terminating at the same location.
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In effect, there are 2 phones at the same location which are linked together
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through a Cheese Box. It is usually foundn in an unoccupied apartment
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connected to a phone jack or connecting block. The bookmaker, at some remote
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location, dials one of the numbers and stays on the line. Various bettors
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dial the other number but are automatically connected with the book maker by
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means of the Cheese Box inter connection. If, in addition to a cheese box, a
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Black Box is included in the arrangement, the combined equipment would permit
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toll-free calling on either line to the other line. If a police raid were
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conducted at the terminating point of the conversations -the location of the
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Cheese Box- there would be no evidence of gambling activity. This device is
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sometimes difficult to identify. Law enforcement officials have been advised
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that when unusual devices are found associated with telephone connections the
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phone company security representitives should be contacted to assist in
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indentification. (This probably would be good for a BBS , especially with the
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Black Box set up. and if you ever decided to take the board down, you
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wouldn't have to change your phone #. It also makes it so you yourself cannot
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be traced. I am not sure about calling out from one though)
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-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
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*RED BOX*
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---- ----
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This device it coupled acoustically to the handset transmitter of a single-
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slot coin telephone. The device emits signals identical to those tones emitted
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when coins are deposited. Thus, local or toll calls may be placed without the
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actual deposit of coins.
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