💾 Archived View for gemini.spam.works › mirrors › textfiles › phreak › PHREAKING › phonehac.phk captured on 2022-07-17 at 11:08:01.
⬅️ Previous capture (2022-06-12)
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The Autodial Proudly Presents "Phone Hackers take their toll" A network of computer hackers obtained a Campbell man's Sprint telephone service access number used it to make around $60,000 worth of calls, a company spkesman said Tuesday. Tom Bestor, a spokesman from the Burlingame long-distance firm, said the incident is one of the largest telephone fraud cases of its kind. "We have found a lot of people (involved) in three major cities and we are pursuing prosecution right now. I think this is going to be a good-sized investigation," Bestor said. He said hackers - computer enthusiasts - in Atlanta, New York, and Baltimore as well as many other cities around the country used Robert Bocek's Sprint number to make hundreds of calls in November and December. Bestor said it appears that the hackers used so-called "computer bulletin boards" to pass the number form person to person. Such boards are actually computers equipped to answer the phone, distribute information, and store messages. Their phone numbers are often listed in publications for computer hobbyists. Bocek, an engineer who works for an electronics firm, said he knew something was wrong when his November Sprint bill came in at around $4,800 when "our normal bill is around $70 to $80." At the same time, Sprint notified Bocek and his wife that the company's security personnel had discovered that their access code was being abused. Bestor said the firm told Bocek not to worry about the bill and changed his access code. But in the 10 days that it took to change the number, Bestor said the hackers were able to run amok,and Sprint warnings to Bocek to expect a large bill for the period of time proved correct. In mid-December Bocek recieved a 722 page phone bill from Sprint that listed 17,311 calls. The total charges were $55,562.27 not counting an $8,197 "volume discount" (article from the San Jose Mercury News..Written by Karen Klinger) Phootnote by The Autodial. Well it looks like this "damaging" publicity is going to do just that, Damage, not the Phreak kingdom but Sprint.. Well if your parents do subscribe to Sprint advise them to change to AT&T... They're not only cheaper but they're better. It looks like Sprint is going to have to change its ways.. Thank you Nick Halflinger.