79 lines
4.1 KiB
Plaintext
79 lines
4.1 KiB
Plaintext
Those Mysterious "Personal" Toll-Free Numbers
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by phantasm
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December 2018
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Any phreak who's exchange scanned a lot of toll-free numbers has more
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than likely dialed up numbers that, at face value, appear to be
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personal toll-free numbers. I'm not talking about AT&T Easy Reach 800
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numbers or other similar services that require the correct access code
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in order to route the call; I'm talking about toll-free numbers that
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ring directly to seemingly ordinary citizens. You know you've found a
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number like this when the person picks up and simply says, "Hello?" or
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"Yo!"
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I never used to think much of these kind of numbers until recently
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when I was scanning an 800 exchange where there were a lot of numbers
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that rang to what seemed like ordinary citizens. I found it kinda odd
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that all these people had costly personal toll-free numbers in this
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day and age. There is a plethora of free alternative services
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available that render the need for a personal toll-free number
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obsolete. It really makes no sense to have one these days unless it's
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for business purposes.
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I decided to start asking the people who answered if they were aware
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that the toll-free number that I had called rings to them. Some were
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well aware, but many were unaware of this fact. When I informed them
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of the number that I had dialed, they seemed rather perplexed. They
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had no knowledge of the toll-free number at all. I usually suggest to
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the person that they give the number a call and see for themselves
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before going on my merry way.
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So what exactly is going on here? Why do these toll-free numbers ring
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to random people without their knowledge? I really don't know for
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sure, but I do have some theories...
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One theory I have is the fact that it's common for large corporations
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and other big companies to have toll-free numbers that forward to
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local numbers which are the direct lines of extensions within the
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company. It's also very common for a company to restructure and/or
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reassign their numbers. They may even disconnect some of their local
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numbers. When this happens, they might hold onto the toll-free number
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that was forwarding to the now disconnected local number for future
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use. After a certain length of time has passed, a new customer will
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more than likely be assigned the company's old disconnected local
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number. At this point, when someone calls the company's toll-free
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number, they reach that new customer because the toll-free number is
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still forwarding to that specific local number. If the company is
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really big, this could last for a very long time without anyone
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at the company realizing it.
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Another theory, which is a slight variation of the first, is that a
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company may have gone out of business and disconnected both their
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local and toll-free numbers, but for whatever reason the toll-free
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number still forwards to the local number. Then, after a certain
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length of time, a new customer is assigned the local number with the
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toll-free number still forwarding to it. I would think this scenario
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would be rare. The phone companies hardly ever make these kind of
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mistakes, but hey - you never know. Anything's possible.
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The cool thing about this is the fact that the people who these
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toll-free numbers are forwarding to don't have to pay a single cent
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for any calls made to the numbers! However, they might have to pay for
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airtime if they're on a cell phone plan without unlimited minutes. In
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most all other situations, the companies/businesses of which the
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toll-free numbers are assigned will be the ones footing the bills for
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all the calls made to the toll-free numbers. Now, this whole notion
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might seem rather outdated or unimportant nowadays being that the need
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for a personal toll-free number is very low. However, it's still
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pretty interesting and it's definitely an oddity that these "secret"
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toll-free numbers are out there ringing to people without their
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knowledge.
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So next time you're scanning a toll-free exchange and come across a
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number that seems like a personal line, go ahead and ask the person on
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the other end if they know about the toll-free number. You might be
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surprised by the answer. Who knows, if you scan enough toll-free
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numbers, you might just find one that forwards to your own personal
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line!
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