Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!pacific.mps.ohio-state.edu!linac!att!pacbell.com!lll-winken!telecom-request From: cmoore@brl.mil (VLD/VMB) Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: Re: The Great US Telephone Conspiracy Message-ID: Date: 29 Mar 91 20:46:32 GMT Sender: Telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Organization: TELECOM Digest Lines: 37 Approved: Telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 11, Issue 251, Message 5 of 11 A case where law enforcement agencies used long distance phone records was a few years ago in Delaware when a couple was killed and their baby kidnapped. Detectives looked over phone records, expanded their search to include the slain couple's relatives, and found a long distance call from the Houston area (using Harrington 302-398 prefix) to a parent of one of the slain couple (this was on the Hartly 302-492 exchange). Even though the prefixes are in the same county, this was a toll call (probably became local recently when Diamond State was ordered to set up "county-wide" local calling); had such call been local, the phone company probably would not have been able to help (according to newspaper article at the time). As it was, however, this discovery put detectives on the road to recovering the baby and making arrests in the case. And in a different matter: Yes, I have also read that overheard credit card numbers are a common source of phone fraud. Touchtone pay phones make it possible to punch in the credit card number instead of having to recite it to a human operator. (Here I do not intend to discuss such things as: COCOT disabling keypad; putting rotary dial back in place of touchtone in drug-infested areas; etc.) John Higdon writes: > Except for collect calls, which are becoming increasingly rare, all > long distance calls are ticketed to an account that can be used to > identify a caller -- even if that caller uses a coin phone. "Cash" calls also? A call billed to a third number does not necessarily point to you; but notice that it leaves a lot of clues: the phones called from and to, and the number the call is charged to. Several years ago, I believe at least in the Wilmington (Del.) newspaper, phone company security pointed out that third-party fraud could be eliminated by getting rid of third-party billing, but that a lot of people want such billing; therefore, there are strict verification rules in use of such billing.