Phreaking

brief note in a local newspaper the other day told the story of a

simple but effective scam to draw money out of public institutions.

A couple in southern Sweden set up a "singles hot-line" service using a

071x-number (our equiv. of the 1-900-numbers in the US where the Telco

and the called party split the charges paid by the caller). [note to

moderator: fell free to correct if I'm mistaken about the number]

Apparently, the income from this hot-line was not enough to satisfy

them so they decided to increase revenue in a simple but effective

fashion. They went all around town to libraries and other public

buildings, looking for phone extensions that were not too closely

guarded. They'd then pick up the receiver, call the hot-line number and

leave the phone with the receiver off-hook. One extension in a library

was reported as having been connected to the hot-line for over a week!

At a cost of over $0.50/minute, this came as quite a shock to the

people in charge of economy at the library when the bills arrived, some

months later.

The RISK of this is the old one of not letting a stranger use your phone but

with a new twist. Normally you'd be worried about him actually USING your phone

to call long-distance. In this case, it was enough for him to merely initiate a

call and then go away. How many employees in a large office will think twice

about a phone being off-hook? Most people will simply assume somebody else is

using it and has gone away temporarily. As long as the phone in question is not

on your own desk, you're not likely to replace the receiver.

Many