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Voice Mail Hacking
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Part 1: Brief Summary
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Along about 2 years ago, I would do just about anything to get my own Vmb.
I would almost sell my soul for one. But alas, at the time almost no one
was giving any away and I had nothing worthy to trade. So, I started hacking
my own. At first I hacked people's boxes, guessing their passcodes. This
of course is stupid, because all they have to do is alert the system manager
and poof, no more mailbox. So, after I had experianced that, I started to
discover that no one missed empty boxes. And here I am today - writing a
file to teach most of you what I know now. So let's begin, shall we?
The first step to hacking anything - anything at all - is to know what
you're hacking. The same applys to Vmb hacking. So, let me start off by
describing some of the prominant voice mail systems.
Adr
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These are the familiar mailboxes that I am sure all of you have called once
in your life. These are the systems where you hear some cheesy greeting,
hit "*" twice, and then enter the mailbox number. When you first press
the "*", the system thinks that you own that mailbox and are entering it.
So, it will reply with "Hello xxxx, please enter your passcode." So you
hit "*" a second time and abort it, and find yourself plopped at the main
menu, with the friendly greeting of "Welcome to the message center." Some
notes on this system is that boxes are usually (sometimes not) 4 digits in
length - as are the passcodes. The message length is usually pretty nice,
anywhere from 1-5 minutes. But of course this all depends on the nazi
system manager. Anyway. Adr's are good little systems. Easy to hack - easy to
use.
Aspen
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I'm sure that everyone has at one time called this, too. If there is no
system greeting, you will be welcomed with "Hello, this is Aspen. The
automated speech exchange network." Pretty self-explanatory, is it not? If
there is a system greeting set-up, you will have to press "*" once to skip
that. You will then hear "Please dial the number of the person you're
calling. If you have a mail box on this system, please press pound."
Aspen's are clear give-aways. Boxes are either 3-4 digits, passcodes 4-5
or longer. However, I have never seen any larger then 5 digits, but they can
be expanded to as much as 9. Message length is usually around the 1 minute
range, depending on what mailbox you hack. I have one currently on an Aspen
that is up around the 8 minute range, but that's just because it's like a
"Cosysop" box. It can do limited system manager functions. Anyway.
Friendly system, easy to hack.
Genesis
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Ok, I would suppose. When you call, you'll be greeted with (usually) "Good
xxxx. Please enter the mailbox number you wish". The "#" key takes you to a
directory, where you can just hit the first letter (A,B,C,etc.) of someones
name to hear their mailbox number. Of course, A B & C are all on the same
number, 2, so that is even easier. Just scribble down some box numbers -
they may be worth playing around with. After all, it's always fun to delete
someone else's voice mail. If you press "*" it will usually adjust the
volume, or just abort to whatever. Boxes are 3-4 digits, 3 is more
prominant. Passcodes are usually 3-4, with 4 being the more frequent choice.
While you are listening to someone's greeting, you can press "0" to enter
the passcode for that mailbox. Overall, it's ok. Not the greatest,
but not the worst either.
Part 2: Locating An Empty Box
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This is, for the most part, the major step to Vmb hacking. For if you can't
find an empty, you'll probably lose your box the next buisness day.
Anyway. The main pain-in-the-ass about Vmb hacking is that after 3 invalid
trys the system usually hangs up on you. To make your job even harder,
they usually space out boxes, leaving little gaps of 3 or 4 in between. That
way if you scan straight through you get discouraged. But of course, there is
a way around that nasty little feature. All systems have a nifty
little "Abort" key. It's usually "*" or "#", and it takes you out of almost
any situation. That comes in very, very handy while you are looking over
the system for an empty box. Let me pass on some tricks for each system.
Adr
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So, you have now found yourself an ADR. You are at the "Welcome to the.."
prompt. Things to remember are that boxes usually start at 1000 or 2000,
and there is almost always a system mailbox somewhere in the 9000 range,
usually at 9999. (That applys for every system, save that some systems
may be 3 digit boxes, so chop a digit, that's all.) Now, to defeat that nasty
little 3 try hang-up, you must first find yourself a good box. It dosen't
matter whose - empty or not. Look in the common places, explained above. As
soon as you find one, jot it down. Now you can scan freely and after every 2
bad trys just punch up the good box, abort out of that and scan some more.
So, ok. Let's say you find a good mailbox. You'll be hearing the
greeting. Hit "*" twice, you're back at the "Welcome to the.." prompt. Now
you can scan 2 more invalid trys worth. A hint is that empty boxes are
always, and I mean always, at the end of the good boxes. To save time I
suggest scanning by 100's. Of course, going backwards once in awhile a few
digits.. Anyway. When you find an empty mailbox, instead of a greeting
you'll hear "Mailbox xxxx" or something. Hit "*" once, and you'll
hear "Hello mailbox xxxx, please enter your passcode." Whalla, you have
located an empty. Write the number down, hit "*" and scan by ones above
and below the number. There is never just one.
Apsen
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The easiest way to scan Aspen's is to pretend you're going to enter your
mailbox. Hit "#", then a probable mailbox number, as I outlined in the
Adr's above. Once you find one, you'll hear something like "John Doe, please
enter your password." The name will be in the owner's voice - just to make
everything nice and friendly. Hit "*" and scan around. When you find an
empty, you'll hear something like "Mailbox xxxx, please enter your
passcode." The rest is basically the same as the Adr's. Write it down, scan
around. Gee, this is sure fun, isn't it?
Genesis
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Well, you get the goofy prompt on this, and the easiest way is just to
hit "#" and then "2" and write down some numbers. Or, you could do 2-9 and
find the highest number. Then scan just above that for emptys. When you
enter someone's box, you'll hear their greeting. Hit "0", then hit "#" to
abort. As always, remember the 3 strikes rule, and keep going back to a
good box after 2 faulty tries. When you locate an empty, the greeting will
be "I'm taking a message for Mmailbox xxxx." Hit "0". Then you'll hear
something like "Please enter your password." Pretty easy, eh? Do the
routine.. Write it down, scan around.
Part 3: Hacking The Empty Box
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Well, now you have your empty's all written down and are ready to jump
into them. The thing to keep in mind here is to keep it simple! No one
wants to be troubled with remember a 9 digits totally random passcode. They
want something small and simple, like a 4 digit year. Remember - think
stupid. The system manager is usually about as smart as a snail in a bowl
full of Jello. He wants to work least of all - so he'll make the emptys up
with cheesy passcodes.
Adr
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This is a ball-buster to hack. You get 3 passcode trys, then you get dumped.
After you enter one passcode, that's it - you can't abort anymore. But you
can (sometimes) hit "*" right when it says "Goodbye" and find yourself back
at the "Welcome to the.." prompt. So play around some. Remember, passcodes
are simple. Don't beat your head in trying to guess some outrageous pass,
just scan another system and move on. Passcodes are usually the same as the
mailbox number, the current year, 1234, 0, or they sometimes don't have
one at all. So, play with it.
Aspen
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Aspen's are always fun. The passcodes are 3 or 4 digits, and ususally no
longer - thus making it a fun little job to pull off. On most systems after
2 bad passcodes you can just abort out of the box, and then do it again. Of
course, on empty boxes you need not waste your time with 4 billion trys,
so why bother. Passcodes are simple, as on Adr's, and almost every other
system for that matter. Remeber, think stupid.
Genesis
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Same as above, but there is a little trick. Most empty boxes have passcodes
set to "0", so try that first. And I can't stress this enough, think simple
for christ's sake!
Part 4: Aftermath
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Once you acheive a box, you can basically figure it out from there. If
you're having trouble finding emptys on one system, or the emptys have
twisted passcodes, drop that system. Scan yourself another. They're all
over the damn place.
Of course, I know you're all sitting out there asking "Duh, why are there
emptys anyhow?" Well look at the human race as a whole. We are lazy, each and
every one of us. Who in god's name wants to sit there every other second
and sprint to make a new box for some new employee? No one, that's who. So,
the system manager sets up 5-10 boxes for future expansion. He sets the
passcodes real cheesy-likem, so that anyone with a 2nd grade education
can remember them for long periods of time. So, think simple. Think like a
moron. Think like a man who hangs out at the water-cooler and sells cheesy
houses for a living.
Part 5: Closing
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Some notes. If you should happen to stray across the system manager
passcode, DONT CHANGE ANYTHING, least of which the passcode. Just make a few
boxes in a nice shady corner of the system and keep a low profile. If the
manager can't get into his own mailbox, he'll know something's up for
sure and go looking around.
To better help you identify these systems, call these. Try to remember
the voice, too. They are clear give-aways.
Adr
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1-800-326-5477 (24 Hours, System box at 5000.)
Aspen
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1-800-800-1239 (24 Hours, System box at 9999. Hit "*" then box numbers.)
Genesis
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1-800-999-2328 (24 Hours, Boxes start at 200 and go up.)
Well, have fun. And don't give all your friends too many mailboxes now, eh?
And remember - don't waste your time on an old system. The newer, the
better. The old ones have been hacked to hell and back, and the managers
make everything difficult. Scan exchanges like mad, gather virgin
systems, hack them. They don't know what they're up against, so they make
everything nice and friedndly. Nice and open. Nice and easy.
Well, laters.
-Hairy Leech
Typed on 2/22/91.
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