Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!ames!netsys!vector!nobody From: eravin@dasys1.UUCP (Ed Ravin) Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: Re: Victims of Wrong Numbers Message-ID: Date: 4 Feb 89 05:38:42 GMT Sender: chip@vector.UUCP Lines: 27 Approved: telecom-request@vector.uucp X-Submissions-To: telecom@bu-cs.bu.edu X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@vector.uucp X-TELECOM-Digest: volume 9, issue 47, message 4 Numerous messages have been posted to TELECOM about what happens when by coincidence misprinted, mis-announced or common dialing errors produce telephone numbers that arrive at some undeserving victim's home instead. One thing I didn't see posted was what happens when someone calls a BBS and say "Hey, man, great new board at 123-4567. Call it now!" and mistypes a few digits in the process. Whoever lives at the wrong number gets a mountain of modem calls, usually at 3 AM or whenever the BBS junkies are awake. Alas, there is a malicious variation of this, where someone posts a number and claims it is a new BBS when it is really the home phone of someone they want to harass. This happened in New York several years ago by a fellow nicknamed "the wimp" who had a hobby of trying to crash BBS's and harass sysops. The most diabolical twist was a message he posted one day under a false name that said "New hacking/phreaking bbs! Call 123-4567. First twenty callers get a working CompuServe account". The number posted was the home phone of a sysop this guy didn't like. Responsible sysops do not let messages from unknowns get posted without validation, and usually call the proposed number to see if it is really a bbs before allowing it to be visible to the users, but not all bbs's are so responsible. -- Ed Ravin | cucard!dasys1!eravin | "A mind is a terrible thing (BigElectricCatPublicUNIX)| eravin@dasys1.UUCP | to waste-- boycott TV!" --------------------------+----------------------+----------------------------- Reader bears responsibility for all opinions expressed in this article.