*************************** WHICH CODES ARE SAFE?? *************************** By the group ---> U.T.A. <--- Date of file: November 25th, 1990 This is U.T.A. Phreak-File #4 ______________________________________________________________________________ 1. INTRODUCTION ---------------- Phreaking isn't as easy as it used to be. Just three years ago, you could fuck with big companies like Sprint, MCI, etc., and not get caught. Nowadays there are so many stories going around about phreaking busts that you're probably almost afraid to even do it from a pay-phone anymore. If the stories were all clear and true, maybe things wouldn't be as bad. However, with all of the conflicting reports of these so-called "bustings", you sometimes wonder what to believe. You have your daring friends telling you that they phreak and that nothing has happened to them yet. You've got your cautious friends telling you that every long distance company has ANI (caller ID) and will bust you if you abuse them, and you've got some 14-year-old on some BBS telling everyone that his "friend" just had to pay 2 million dollars in damage to some piss-ass long distance company for only using codes twice in his life. Don't you wish that someone KNOWLEDGABLE would step forward and tell you the TRUTH about all this? Well, such individuals from the veteran phreaking group U.T.A. have arrived. And this file is going to set the records straight. Unlike other files that were written by little illiterate 14-year-old R0dents, this one is written by members of the experienced phreaking group U.T.A. who have VERIFIED all of the upcoming information with the phone company itself. For more info about U.T.A., stay tuned at the end of this file. And now, our feature presentation... ______________________________________________________________________________ 2. WHAT ABOUT "1-800" CODES? ----------------------------- In recent times, codes with "1-800" access numbers have been very plentiful and popular. In additon, while there are many stories going around about the "unsafe 950 codes", the 1-800 codes have been reported to be relatively safe. DO NOT BELIEVE THIS! Using a 1-800 code from your house is like playing Russian Roulette. Any 1-800 number you call has the capability to get the number you're calling from. This does not just apply to codes. Many businesses and party-lines that begin with 1-800 also get your phone number the second you call in. If you are abusing codes that have this ANI/Caller-ID capability, your phone number will appear on the bill of the codes that you were using. At this point, your ass will be grass. We will not lie to you. Many 1-800 numbers are very safe. Many of them DO NOT have the ANI that we just talked about. However, since there are so many different 1-800 codes that you'll run into, and because there is no way to tell whether or not they have ANI, you are taking stupid chances by using them. Do not fall for stories like "I've been using this 1-800 code and it's been safe." Many of them have the ANI and just choose not to pursue the fraudulent calls until a later date. Our advice is to ALWAYS stay away from using 1-800 codes, except from pay-phones. 3. WHAT'S WITH THE 950-XXXX CODES? ----------------------------------- You've probably heard a lot of bad stuff about the so-called "950 Codes". Do not fear, as these codes are very safe if you use them correctly. First of all, we will explain how 950 codes work. Whenever you dial the 950 access number (i.e. 950-1493, 950-0488, etc.), you are accessing the switchboard of the company that owns the 950 number. Being that these 950 numbers can be dialed free from any home phone or pay phone, your LOCAL phone company (such as GTE, Ma Bell, Centel, or whoever provides your local phone service) will charge the 950 company 5 1/2 cents. For example, if you were to dial 950-0488 (ITT), your local phone company would charge ITT 5 1/2 cents for this call. In addition, this is REAL MONEY lost by the 950 company to the local phone company. It is not the money supposedly "lost" because you didn't pay for the call you're making. If you make 1000 calls to a 950 number, that 950 company will owe your local phone company $55 for those calls! Normal people would not call a 950 number 1000 times even in one month, but when you hack 950 codes, it's a different story. When your computer dials up your favorite 950 carrier 3000 times to find a working code, it is costing this 950 company $115!! Multiply this by thousands of hackers and you know that a lot of these small 950 long-distance carriers have got a problem! As a result, *ALL* of the 950 companies have asked *ALL* of the local phone companies to contact them WITH THE NAMES AND PHONE NUMBERS of people who have dialed them "more times than humanly possible". Do not panic, this does not mean that 950 codes aren't safe. As stated above, these 950 companies ONLY want the names of those dialing them thousands of times per month. If you just USE codes and don't HACK them, these 950 companies will NOT be getting your name & number from your local phone company. Why? Because when you are just USING codes, you will dial them up no more than a few hundred times per month (even if you call out a LOT). Since many of their legitimate customers call that often, they can not go sifting through the different names trying to determine who is a hacker and who isn't. However, the person who dials a 950 number about 20,000 times in one week definitely has "hacker" written all over him. The general rule of thumb is that it's safe to USE 950 codes, but NOT SAFE to hack them. Let some other poor sap who isn't reading this file hack the codes and get busted. There will always be enough dumbshits out there doing this that you can leech codes off of anyway. Read on to find out some MORE tips on how to abuse 950 codes safely... 4. HOW TO USE 950 CODES SAFELY ------------------------------- First of all, KNOW THE COMPANY YOU'RE ABUSING. Do *NOT* start phreaking with a 950 number that you don't know the name of the company who owns it. Make sure to find out who you're fucking with BEFORE you fuck with them. The next step is to call the company that you want to abuse. Make sure to call them during business hours, Monday thru Friday, so you can get to the right departments. Once you call, ask for the customer service department and start asking the customer service rep. some questions. Tell them that you are thinking of subscribing to their service but that your "friend" had his code abused with them and you want to know what they are doing to stop these "hackers". Do NOT sound too knowledgable about phreaking or they may catch on. Make sure to play dumb. Ask them if they have a Caller-ID feature that tells you where all calls on your bill are made FROM. If they say "yes", then DO NOT FUCK WITH THEM. If they say "no", then start dicking this company over right away! If they say "Duh, I don't know!", then try to ask to be connected with someone who does know. If no one knows, then chances are that they are safe to fuck with. TRY THIS PROCEDURE WITH AT LEAST TWO DIFFERENT REPS. Sometimes they will bullshit you for one reason or another. Also, do not fall for comments like, "We have no Caller-ID but we have a good security department and usually catch the hackers." This is their equivalent of saying, "We are lame, come and abuse us." Also, do not be the "guinea pig" for trying out new companies to abuse. Let others try them for about a month before you start screwing with them. If all seems to be going well, then you're probably safe. If you hear that the company you're abusing has been busting people, get the FACTS. Find out if these "busted" people were reported by someone or if they were hacking codes. If either of these are true, DO NOT WORRY. Remember, there are other ways to get busted besides the company having ANI/Caller-ID. Finally, make sure to NEVER hack codes yourself. We cannot stress this enough. They WILL catch up with you, and getting busted is FAR from fun. 5. DON'T LISTEN TO OTHER PHREAKERS ----------------------------------- It's sort of ironic that authors of phreaking g-files are telling you not to listen to other phreakers about what is safe or not. Why? Because 95% of the so-called "phreakers" out there are a bunch of inexperienced r0dents, so you'll end up with false info 95% of the time. Don't try to determine which people "know" about it and which don't. Many people can put on a pretty good act that they know what they're doing, when they really have no idea what is going on. Many will tell you that all 950's have ANI, many will tell you that 800's are safe, and some will even say that it's safe to hack codes. DO NOT BELIEVE THEM. In case you're now worried about the credibility of OUR file, rest assured that we have checked out all of the info written above with the phone companies themselves, so it is surely correct. If you find some facts in here that can be proven wrong, you are welcome to contact us and we will change the incorrect info. Our number will be at the end of the file. 6. WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU GET BUSTED? ------------------------------------- Hopefully you'll never need this section of our file, but you never know. Getting busted for phreaking is a STATE crime (NOT a federal offense). Contrary to many of the stories you have heard, the FBI does NOT get involved in phreaking activites. This matter is left to your local Police or Sheriff's Department. Once you are caught, expect to have your computer equipment confiscated (temporarily or permanently), be forced to pay a fine from $2000-$10,000 dollars, and have charges pressed on you if you are over 18. Phreakers caught under 18 are rarely brought to court if their parents are willing to settle with the long-distance company. If all of this sends chills down your spine, BE CAREFUL. Getting busted for phreaking defeats the purpose of phreaking in the first place, because you'll end up losing more than you gained from the free calls. 7. WHAT IF SOMEONE REPORTED ME? -------------------------------- If you think someone has reported you or you think that the phone company is on to you, our advice is to STOP PHREAKING for at least FOUR MONTHS. Any less amount of time will do you no good. One of our OWN MEMBERS got busted in early 1989 because he started phreaking again after "cooling off" for two months because he knew someone reported him. The way the phone company "monitors" people's lines for PHREAKING (not to be confused w/the way they monitor HACKING CODES) is they put a "tone-register" on your line. This "tone-register" will record every digit you press on your touch-tone phone. It is VERY EXPENSIVE to run this device (about $50/day), and the phone company will NEVER leave it on a "clean" line for more than 4 months. If you can't wait out the four months, there is an alternate (but not foolproof) solution. Dial the 950 number in pulse. You will still have to dial the code in touch-tone, but dialing the number in pulse will prevent your local phone company from figuring out which service you are calling (when tracing you through the tone register). DO NOT confuse this with the way they bust CODE HACKERS. They are COMPLETELY DIFFERENT. There is NO SAFE WAY to hack codes. A "tone-register" would not be put on your line unless 1) Someone reports you, or 2) You phreaked a few times with a number that had ANI, but not enough times for you to get busted. 8. "CALLER-ID STATES" SHOULD WATCH OUT --------------------------------------- If you live in Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York or New Jersey, you have a real problem. ANYONE, including residences, businesses, and ESPECIALLY long distance companies have the option of Caller-ID. This makes it very hard to phreak with ANYTHING safely. More and more states will end up with Caller-ID as time passes. As of the date of this file, California DOES NOT have Caller-ID, and neither do any of the other states not mentioned above. If you hear about Caller-ID becoming available in your community, STOP PHREAKING until you can determine what is safe. 9. SUMMARY OF ABOVE -------------------- Don't use 800 codes. Don't hack *ANY* codes. It is safe to use 950 codes as long as you know the company you're screwing with and are sure that they're safe. Most 950 companies DO NOT have ANI. Use pulse if you think someone's reported you. Beware of phreaking from "Caller-ID" states. 10. INFO ABOUT U.T.A. AND OTHER U.T.A. PHREAKING FILES ------------------------------------------------------- U.T.A. started on June 26th, 1989 as a group of two members from the Los Angeles area. By three weeks later, U.T.A. had grown to become eight members strong, one of them being from Germany. At the present moment, U.T.A. has twelve members: Killer - President, from Los Angeles, CA. Impostor - Vice President/Public Relations, from Los Angeles, CA. Slam - BBS Relations, from Los Angeles, CA. Rice Burner - Demo maker, from Los Angeles, CA. Ace - Underground work, from Sacremento, CA. Undertaker - on temporary "disabled list", from Los Angeles, CA. Disposable Hero - Misc. functions, from Cleveland, OH. New Deal - Code & Box supplier, from Frankfurt, Germany. Phoenix - Box hacker, from Holland. Mr. Nobody/Jetaza - Code supplier, from Rotterdam, Holland. Domination - Code supplier, from Denmark. Bandit - Code supplier, from Denmark. If by reading the above you get the impression that all U.T.A. does is hack boxes and use codes, you are wrong. We do many other things, and most of our members have been into phreaking since its "take-off" in 1984. We are experts on "info" and can get loads of information about someone from just a simple name and/or phone number. We are experts on phone systems and are always a few jumps ahead of the phone companies' new "busting" techniques. U.T.A. has published three other phreak-files to this date. By the time you read this, there might be more. To obtain any other U.T.A. phreak-files, U.T.A. Amiga demos, or info on joining (or teaming up with) U.T.A., please call us VOICE at: ----> (904) 843-9269 <---- Please leave a way for us to contact you (BBS, voice, or voice mailbox) in your message to us. Also, if leaving us a BBS number, MAKE SURE that you leave us the the current new user password so we can get on. If by some chance the (904) number is gone by the time you are reading this, try our ALTERNATE number at: (313) 980-6855, when you hear the guy start talking, hit *9805412. This will bring you to our ALTERNATE box. We rarely check the (313) number, so do NOT leave us a message on it UNLESS the (904) box is down. ______________________________________________________________________________ Other U.T.A. Phreak files: #1: List of which companies "own" each 800 prefix (thanks to LoD!) #2: List of which companies "own" each 950 number #3: *5* ways to make free calls from pay-phones WITHOUT tampering with its wires or equipment. ______________________________________________________________________________ (C) 1990 U.T.A. Enterprises. No modification of this file permitted without express written permission, but you can upload it "as-is" to anywhere you want and give it out to all your friends at school and work. If you violate this copyright agreement, we're not gonna sue you. We'll just kick your fucking ass!