The text comes from a data file written by and for IC members. HACK YOUR OWN CODES. Don't leech from someone else. Having codes is like having sex, if you don't protect yourself you'll end up with a venereal disease. You have no idea where a code has been before you got your hands on it, when it was hacked or how long it's been in circulation. Time is a very important factor, the longer a code has been in use, the greater the risk. DON'T STAY ON A CODE MORE THAN THREE DAYS. Don't give the suckers an even break. To run a trace, MCI needs to shuffle a lot of papers. Ain't that nice. Paper work takes time, and it's highly unlikely they could accomplish the feat in three days. It's even more unlikely they would even know they've been phreaked for at least a week. All company's have thirty day billing cycles, if you started using the code the day after the bills went out, you'd have twenty nine days left to play with it. The customer gets his billing and bitches up a storm. The company now has the option of setting up a trap, but alas, they notice you haven't used the code in three weeks and have no destination number to PIN. If you phreaked the code one day before the billing cycle ends, the customer may notice right away. Figure you have two days for it to reach the customer. If he yells right away it takes a few more days for the security department to process the paperwork for the trace. By that time you're long gone. DON'T STAY ON A NODE MORE THAN THREE DAYS. If you insist on burning the same company, you're going to develop a pattern. You call your girl friend in Alaska every damned day using the same company. It doesn't take a genius to predict what you're going to do tomorrow. They know where you enter their system and where you're going to. You've given them everything they need to run a good trace. Spread the wealth a little. Use US Telecom, then ITT, Lexitel, Skyline, Metro and a few of the 800's if you like. Spread it out. These people have no way of comparing. So you can screw Peter, Paul and the rest of the Apostles with no worry. Just don't be a dip stick and get lazy. Everyone is worried about THE TRACE. Don't be. It's no big deal for AT&T, after all it is their network, but for the leech services it's an entirely different matter. This is why we don't mess around with AT&T except through secondary accesses like PBX's or Diverters. This is the scenario MCI's security department will run down. They call up a number you've called....... "Hello, this is Inspector Bullshit with MCI. Did you receive a phone call from the 212 area code on November 22, 1945 at 4:00 A. M.? " "You didn't?" "We've traced fourteen calls to this number in the last two weeks, by the way, who am I speaking with?" "Well Mrs. Blabbermouth, perhaps someone else in your household received the calls? " "I see, your daughter has a boyfriend in New York. "I'm afraid he's in some serious trouble Mrs. B. If you'll cooperate with me we won't pursue this matter with your daughter." "That's correct, little Susie Blabbermouth won't be involved. It would be a shame to cause you folks trouble, after all she didn't actually make the calls."" All I need is the boy's name and phone number." "Let me see if I have that right."Jimmy Phreaker at 212-555-1212?" "Thank you Mrs. B you've been very helpful." The point is, if Bullshit had really run traces he wouldn't be calling to con the information. The exchange is typical of those used by most phone companys and illustrate several important issues. Make sure the person you're calling is cool and there's no chance someone else could rat on you. It is very unlikely MCI will make such a call if you use the IC's Rules of Phreaking. Yet, if it were to occur these are your friend's options... 1. HANGUP 2. "FUCK YOU"...THEN HANG UP 3. "I WAS WATCHING MIAMI VICE AND YOU INTERRUPT ME WITH THIS CRAP. FUCK YOU"....HANG UP. 4. If you want to be nice about it; "I don't know what you're talking about.....HANG UP. The problem is now resolved. Remember these guys are like rabid dogs in heat, they're excellent con artists. Believe nothing you hear. You don't have to talk to them. If they had anything on you they'd be standing at your door with a search warrant. Their abilities in this area are very restricted. They operate by manipulating your fear and you have nothing to fear but your own fear. Don't try to come up with some lame explanation, you know you received the call and they know it. So don't make an ass out of yourself trying to explain away the obvious - HANG UP! What happens if your are caught? Congratulate yourself on being an asshole. The number of phreaks caught are so small you have now qualified for membership in a really elite group of jerks. Inspector Bullshit now has several options. Grab your computer......... this will be done no matter what. Grab your data files and any hard copy you have laying around. This to help identify other subversives and also to supply incriminating information about you. Try to scare you into a confession. Standard operating procedure - keep your fucking mouth shut. You have nothing to gain by talking and a much to lose. If you're a minor you can forget about jail time, an adult is looking at a couple of weeks in the slam - may-be. Realize this, they don't really want your ass as much as they want THE MONEY. That's right boys and girls the buck talks loud and clear. If you're caught, you've broken every one of the IC's rules. At worst you're looking at a couple of thousand in phone bills. Get a lawyer to do your talking for you, that'll be about a five hundred dollar retainer. If the company is willing to settle for the money, and your computer, pay it - it's cheaper in the long run. If they want you in the calaboose then fight it. As a first time offender the odds of you actually getting time are slim. Incidentally, Inspector Bullshit will drop a little extra on the bill for good measure. Have the attorney demand they produce their records of all "alleged phone conversations". In fighting a phreaking case you'll want to have a jury trial. The technology behind the running of a trace is so complicated even a halfassed lawyer could confuse the average layman. He can make Inspector Bullshit describe switching down to atomic subparticles if he wants and by the time he gets to how a trace works the jury would be so confused you'd skate on a "reasonable doubt". It would be interesting to see if a sharp shark could subpoena the actual equipment used to run the trace. I don't think MCI would care to have one of their computers offline for the time it would take to have "independent" examiners checking out the functionality of the switching mechanisms. To phreak or not to phreak. It's a question only you can answer for yourself.