376 DEAR HACKER

376 DEAR HACKER

People interested in helping me with this can write to me under handles or pen names. Do not use your real name or address as my mail is censored by officials here.

John Gregg Marion, IL

Dear 2600: Got a couple of newspaper clippings for you. What I’d like to know is

how the county jail inmates got hold of all those long-distance codes.

I just can’t picture an Apple II with autodial modem attacking a dial- up node from a jail cell. The Hooded Claw

They didn’t need one. All they need is human contact with the outside world. Guards can prevent visitors from bringing in knives and guns, but so far they’ve been unable to keep people from reciting numbers. Someone could also easily set up a voice mailbox to read out this month’s Sprint codes. All an inmate has to do is call that number and write down the codes. But isn’t it true that all calls from

a prison have to be collect? That’s no problem — simply make the first part of the voice message say “Sure, I’ll accept” or something similar.

Dear 2600: In the Spring ’89 edition, I read your article on “How Payphones

Really Work” and enjoyed it immensely. I thought that it was a very accurate and informative piece. Continue the excellent work.

Now that I have given your ego a boost, I will ask for a favor. Could

BEHIND THE WALLS

phones” as I am incarcerated at the present time and all that is avail- able to use from this crowbar hotel are those damnable gadgets. They are the most exasperating items ever invented; you are unable to call 800 numbers or to bill to a third party or even be able to use a tele- phone credit card with them. The party you are calling must pay the exorbitant prices which they charge for collect calls, and who the hell wants to try to persuade individuals to accept collect calls? There has to be a way around these mechanized monsters, and any info that you could possibly print about them would be greatly appreciated.

Incarcerated It’s hard to experiment with something without having access to it. That’s why people

who find themselves locked up with these hell-phones have to try everything possible. It is entirely possible there are no holes, considering what the purpose of these phones is. In that case, there are still options. For instance, just suppose you called

a voicemail system or an answering machine that answers the phone with the message: “Hello? (pause) Why of course I’ll accept charges.” If you’re lucky enough to gain access to a voicemail system that allows you to dial out, you’ll be able to make phone calls (and rack up two bills at the same time). Unless your DTMF pad gets cut off after a connection is made, in which case you’ll need a white box (por- table DTMF generator) to hold up to the mouthpiece. And that’s probably illegal to possess in prison. Readers, any ways out?

Dear 2600: As far as phreaking from inside prison, it can be done but only on

non-AT&T phones. We have collect-only here, but I got around them as follows. Ours has a recording that asks you your name. When the party you are calling answers, it plays the recording and tells you to press three to accept the call. To start with, I dialed a number to a recorded message like the one at our helpful AT&T office (ha). The recording triggers the phone to accept the call. You don’t state your name when asked, but bypass it by pressing a number on the keypad