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-
- ==Phrack Inc.==
-
- Volume Three, Issue 26, File 3 of 11
-
- =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
- - -
- = %> The Disk Jockey <% =
- - -
- = Presents =
- - -
- = Getting Caught =
- - - Legal Procedures - -
- = =
- - March 24, 1989 -
- = =
- - An Unbiased Look Into The Ways Of Criminal Proceedings -
- = =
- -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
-
-
- Preface
- %%%%%%%
- Through this file, I hope to explain what legal action is followed during
- an investigation of toll fraud. All of the contained information is based upon
- actual factual information, and although it differs slightly from state to
- state, the majority of it is applicable anywhere. There seems to be a lot of
- misconception as to the actual legal happenings during and after an
- investigation, so hopefully this will answer some of the too often unasked
- questions.
-
- Initiation
- %%%%%%%%%%
- In our particular story, the whole investigation is tipped off from a
- phone call by someone to the U.S. Sprint security office. The volume of calls
- of "hackers" calling in on other "hackers" is incredible. It is amazing how
- when one user is mad at another and seeks some "revenge" of sorts, he calls a
- security office and advises them that they know of a person who is illegally
- using said company's long distance services. Usually the person will talk to
- either a regular customer service representative, or someone from the security
- office. Typically they will merely say "Hey, a guy named 'Joe' is using your
- codes that he hacks, and his home phone number is 312-xxx-xxxx."
- Next our security person has to decide if this may indeed be a somewhat
- legitimate call. If all seems fairly reasonable, they will start their own
- in-house investigation. This could mean just doing a CN/A on the phone number
- in question to see who the phone is registered under, and check to see if this
- person is a legitimate subscriber to their system.
- A call is placed to the person in question's home telco office. Usually
- they will talk to someone in the security office, or a person whom would carry
- such a capacity in the area of security. They will usually coordinate an
- effort to put some type of DNR (Dialed Number Recorder) on the subscriber's
- telephone line, which will record on an adding machine type of paper all data
- pertaining to: Numbers dialed, DTMF or pulse modes, any occurrence of 2600hz,
- codes and other digits dialed, incoming calls including number of rings before
- answer, time the line was picked up and hung up, etc.
- This DNR may sit on the subscriber's phone line from merely a few weeks,
- to several months.
- At some point either the U.S. Sprint security representative or the telco
- security person will decide that enough time has passed, and that an analysis
- of the DNR tape is due. The Sprint official may visit the telco site and go
- over the tapes in person, or they may be sent from the telco to the Sprint
- office.
- After going over the tapes and finding dialups and codes that were used
- that may possibly be used illegally, Sprint will find the actual owners of
- the codes in question and verify that the codes were indeed used without any
- knowledge or permission of the legitimate owner. They will also put together
- an estimate of "damages," which can include cost of dialup port access, cost
- of investigation, as well as the actual toll charges incurred from the
- usage.
- The Sprint security representative and the local telco security person
- will then go to the local police, usually either state or whatever has the real
- power in that area. They will present the case to the detective or other
- investigator, display all findings, and provided that the case findings seem
- pretty plausible, a search warrant will be composed. After the warrant is
- fully written out (sometimes it is merely a short fill-in-the-blank form) the
- three people investigating the case (the police detective, the local telco
- security representative, and the Sprint security investigator) will go in front
- of a judge and under oath state the evidence and findings that they have as to
- date contained in a document called a "discovery" which justify the need for a
- search warrant. Assuming that the findings seem conclusive, the judge will
- sign the warrant and it will then be active for the time specified on the
- warrant. Usually they are valid for 24 hours a day, due to the circumstances
- that more than likely calls were being made at all hours of the day and night.
- On some agreed date, all the above parties will show up at the suspect's
- house and execute the search warrant and more than likely collect all the phone
- and computer equipment and bring it to the state police post for further
- investigation.
- All information and evidence as well as all the reports will then be
- forwarded to the prosecutor's office to determine what, if any, charges are
- going to be pursued.
- Once charges are finalized through the prosecutor, another discovery
- document is made, listing all the charges and how those charges were derived.
- It is then brought in front of the judge again and if approved, warrants will
- be issued for the individual(s) listed.
- The warrants are usually served by sending over one of the local officers
- to the suspect's house, and he will knock, introduce himself and ask for the
- individual, and then present the warrant to the individual and take them in to
- the station.
- The individual will be processed, which usually means being photographed
- and fingerprinted twice (once for the FBI and once for the state records), and
- then is put into either a holding cell or regular jail.
- Sometimes the bond is already set before the individual is arrested, but
- sometimes it is not. If not, it will be at the arraignment.
- Within 72 hours, the suspect must be arraigned. The arraignment is a time
- when the formal charges are read to the suspect in front of the judge, bail is
- set if it has not been already, and the suspect may pick if he wants a jury
- trial or a trial by judge. This, of course, assumes that the suspect is going
- to plead not guilty, which is the best thing to do in most cases of somewhat
- major capacity. Further court dates are also set at this time. If the suspect
- is unable to afford to retain an attorney, the court will assign a court
- appointed lawyer at this time.
- After the arraignment, the suspect is either allowed to post bail, or is
- returned to the jail to await the next court date. His next court date,
- which is the omnibus, is usually slated for about a month away.
- If the set bail seems unreasonably high, your attorney can file for a
- "bond reduction." You will go in front of the judge and your lawyer will argue
- as to why your bond should be reduced, and how you have a stable life and
- responsibilities and would not try to skip bail. The prosecutor will argue as
- to why your bail should not be dropped.
- At the omnibus hearing, also known as a "fact-finding" hearing (or in some
- states, this is known as the "preliminary hearing."--Ed.) the suspect is again
- brought in front of a judge, along with his own attorney, and the prosecuting
- attorney. At this time the state (meaning the prosecutor) will reveal evidence
- against the suspect, and the judge will decide if the evidence is enough to
- hold the suspect in jail or to continue the case to trial. Nearly always there
- is enough, as warrants would not be issued if there was not, since the state
- could be opening themselves up to a false arrest suit if they were wrong. From
- here a "pre-trial" date is slated, again usually about a month down the road.
- The pre-trial is the last chance for the suspect to change his mind and
- enter a guilty plea, or to continue to trial. It is also the last point in
- which the prosecutor will offer the suspect any type of plea-bargain, meaning
- that the suspect enters a guilty plea in exchange for an agreed upon set of
- reduced charges or sentencing. Assuming the suspect still wishes to enter a
- plea of "not-guilty," the date for jury selection will be slated.
- During the jury selection, your lawyer and you as well as the prosecutor
- will get to meet as many prospective jury members as you wish, and you can each
- ask them questions and either accept or reject them based on if you think that
- they would be fair towards you. This eliminates most possibilities of any jury
- members that are biases before they every sit down to hear your case. After
- the prosecutor and your attorney agree on the members, your trial date is set,
- usually about a week later.
- At trial, the prosecutor will present the case to the jury, starting with
- questioning detectives and investigators on how the case was first discovered
- and how things lead to you, and in each instance, your attorney will be able to
- "cross-examine" each witness and ask questions of their own, hopefully making
- the jury questionable as to the validity of everything that is said. After
- that, your attorney is allowed to call witnesses and the prosecutor will be
- allowed to ask questions as well. By rights you do not have to go to the stand
- if you do not want to, as you have the right to not incriminate yourself. After
- all is said and done, the prosecutor will get to state his "closing arguments,"
- a basic summary of all that was presented and why you should be considered
- guilty, and your lawyer will give his arguments to the jury, as to why you
- should not be judged guilty.
- The jury will go into deliberation, which can last a few minutes, or
- several days. They must all vote and decide if you should be judged guilty or
- not guilty. After the deliberation, court is called back in and the jury will
- announce the results.
- If it is decided that you are guilty, you normally have about 10 days to
- file an appeal, which would have your case sent to a higher court. Otherwise
- your date for sentencing will be set, again usually about a month away.
- At the sentencing, your lawyer will argue why you should be let off easy,
- and the prosecutor will argue why you should be given a hard sentence. The
- judge will come to a decision based on the arguments and then make a decision
- on your sentence. You will then be released to the agency that you are
- assigned to, be it the probation department, the prison system, or the county
- jail.
-
- I hope this file gives you a more clear view on what happens in the legal
- system, in future files I hope to discuss the actual dos and don'ts of the
- legal system and advise as to what tricks of the trade are used by legal
- authorities.
-
- Any questions/comments/threats can be directed to me at;
-
- Lunatic Labs 415.278.7421
-
-
- -The Disk Jockey
-
- Written exclusively for Phrack Newsletter, 1989. This document may be used in
- whole or part as long as full credit for work cited is given to the author.
-