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 / /  /__   __/  ___/ Internal Theft Syndicate
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\/__/ \/__/\/_____/   T.I.T.S. The Intuitve Textfile Series

Released 12/28/92     The REAL WORLD textfile subseries:


*ITSR004.TXT *The iTS REAL WORLD Series*
This iTS report will contain text recorded from actual 'Real World'
publications.  Such major publications as Business Week and the New York
Daily Times will be monitored for any reports of investigations, busts, or
legislative action regarding phreaking.  Consider this your 'outside source' to
the most current information available regarding our Judicial System and how
it reacts to phreaking.

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San Jose Mercury News - Page 1F - Dec. 27, 1992


"Someone dialed T for trouble; mom got the bill"
------------------------------------------------

        Matha Tallam, an intel administrative assistant and mother of two,               
got a big surprise the other day when she opened her mail.  In it was a 
letter from the president of a Sacramento long distance telephone company
accusing the family of criminal fraud.
        "Do you know we could put your kids in jail?" said the executive
in a later phone conversation, according to Tallam.
        The company, Execuline of Sacramento Inc., charges that someone at
the Tallam residence had used a personal computer to dial into Execuline's
telecommunications network and attempted - in 553 phone calls - to gain
access to Execuline customers' telephone authorization codes, supposedly to 
make long-distance calls on someone else's dime.
        Execuline isn't filing criminal charges but wants the Tallams to pay
the $662.05 in long-distance charges, investigative fees and taxes that were
incurred from the calls, made from Tallam's phone number.  And of course to 
refrain from such "criminal" acts in the future. 
        Tallam is stunned.  She concedes her two teen-agers, ages 12 and 14,
often connect to electronic bulletin boards and networks using the modem 
built into the family's personal computer and the Tallam family phone.  But
if her children had entered the Execuline network, they couldn't have under-
stood what they were doing, and there was nothing to indicate to them it was
illegal, or expensive, she believes.  The Tallam children admit they "chat"
online with scads of nameless users who pass on tips and numbers to try out,
but she doesn't think they're doing anything that's against the law.
        There are some important messages here, particularly for parents who
surprised their kids this week with their first personal computer.
        Most important, don't let this discourage you.  Buy your kids a modem
and encourage them to use electronic communications.  But learn something 
about it yourself first.  Know what your kids are doing with their computer.
And set ground rules for using electronic bulletin boards.  Remember: Plenty
of modem-weilding teen-agers have gotten in heaps of trouble for what began
as innocent play.  Plus, the don't have to be breaking the law to tally up
quite a phone bill.
        In Execuline President James Smith's view, it's absurd for Tallam to
think her kids didn't know what they were doing, though he admits they may
not have understood that it was illegal.  Phone records dug up by Execuline
and Pac Bell investigators show that the calls made to Execuline's network
from the Tallam home were aided by an automatic random-number generator.  
This is a program that runs through hundreds, even thousands, of combinations
of numbers automatically on the hopes that some will strike gold - in this 
case, a customer authorization code.
        If you thought these "War Games" type break-ins by pimple-faced
adolescents were a waning trend, think again, Smith says.  For smaller 
carriers like Execuline, which don't have the detection techniques used by
the giants, it's on the rise.
        Smith claims money is not his motivator, though he wouldn't mind
reclaiming some of the $50,000 to $100,000 he loses in revenues each month
to fraud.  His firm investigates more than 100 such incidents a month.  
Smith often calls the parents himself and says they are usually dumbfounded
to learn this has been going on.  Maybe the Tallams should consider them-
selves lucky.  In about one out 20 cases, Execuline sends the police to the
house to confiscate equipment.


Researched by:
Night Shade [iTS]
