Hacker Chronicles 1/HACKER1.ISO/phrk3/phrack28.11

Text File | 1992-09-26 | 25KB | 448 lines

                                ==Phrack Inc.==

                    Volume Three, Issue 28, File #11 of 12

            PWN PWN PWN PWN PWN PWN PWN PWN PWN PWN PWN PWN PWN PWN
            PWN                                                 PWN
            PWN        P h r a c k   W o r l d   N e w s        PWN
            PWN        ~~~~~~~~~~~   ~~~~~~~~~   ~~~~~~~        PWN
            PWN               Issue XXVIII/Part 3               PWN
            PWN                                                 PWN
            PWN                 October 7, 1989                 PWN
            PWN                                                 PWN
            PWN          Created, Written, and Edited           PWN
            PWN               by Knight Lightning               PWN
            PWN                                                 PWN
            PWN PWN PWN PWN PWN PWN PWN PWN PWN PWN PWN PWN PWN PWN


FCC Orders Radio Station To Stop Phone Pranks                   August 30, 1989
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Federal Communications Commission has slapped Chicago radio station WLUP-AM
(1000) and WLUP-FM (97.9) with a $5000 fine and threatened to pull their
license for illegally broadcasting phone calls to "unsuspecting individuals."

The FCC specifically cited "willful behavior and repeated violations of its
policy that recipients of phone calls from radio stations must be informed in
advance -- and on the air at the start of the call -- that they are being
broadcast."

In particular, the FCC noted that morning host Jonathon Brandmeier and mid-day
host Kevin Matthews were in frequent violation of this rule.

Scott G. Ginsberg, president and chief executive officer of Evergreen Media
Corporation, parent company and license holder for WLUP confirmed that his
company had paid the $5000 fine without protest for illegally broadcasting
phone calls.  He compared this punishment to receiving a traffic ticket.

Both Brandmeier and Matthews enjoy harassing people on the phone, and
broadcasting the reaction of their victims over the air.  One of the calls
placed by Matthews involved him posing as a police officer.  He called a
funeral home and spoke to the widow of a man who died the day before.  He told
her that her niece and nephew, who were scheduled to come to the funeral home
later that day to help with burial arrangements had been arrested.  The widow
was not amused.  She filed suit against WLUP and Matthews.

Brandmeier likes to harass celebrities by managing to find their unlisted home
phone numbers and call them at 6:30 or 7:00 AM when his show goes on the air.
He also pulls phone scams including sending unwanted food orders; calling
employers to provide excuses for employees who won't be at work that day, and
similar.  Always broadcasting the calls on the air, of course.

But it was the call to the grieving widow at the funeral home which got the FCC
livid.  The Commission contacted the station that day, and an Enforcement
Officer threatened to put the station off the air that day -- in a matter of
minutes when he could get the order signed.

After some discussion, WLUP was permitted to continue broadcasting, but a memo
was circulated to all employees warning that effective immediately, any
violation of the phone rules would lead to immediate termination.

But despite this, less than three months later, Brandmeier pulled another of
his obnoxious phone pranks.  This time, the FCC gave him personally a $5000
fine, and told WLUP "either keep those two under control on the air or you'll
get your license yanked."

Now WLUP faces more sanctions, and the probable non-renewal of its license
when it expires December 1, 1989.  Afternoon disk jockey Steve Dahl routinely
broadcasts indecent material on his show.  Daily topics of conversation include
sadism and masochism, child molestation, sexual behavior of all sorts, and
frequent slurs of the most vicious kind against gay people.  He uses "street
language" to express himself, of course, and has used the famous "seven words
you never say on the radio" more times than anyone remembers.

The victims of the phone pranks have consulted with their own attorney as a
group, and he in turn is pressing the FCC to shut down WLUP completely.

Ginsberg says he does not understand why the FCC is picking on them.  He says
it must be competing radio stations that would like to see them off the air,
since they are rated number three in the Chicago area, which certainly says a
lot about Chicagoan's taste in radio entertainment.

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Long time Phrack World News readers may have noticed a familiar name in this
article:  Steve Dahl.

Depending on how long you have been with us, you may wish to refer to Phrack
World News Issue Five/Part One (in Phrack Inc. Volume One, Issue Six).  There
is an article entitled "Mark Tabas and Karl Marx Busted" and it is dated May
2, 1986.  Along with this article is a short note that explains how an
informant (possibly the son of an agent of the Secret Service or Federal Bureau
of Investigation) was believed to be using the handle of Jack or Will Bell and
had helped the authorities get Tabas and Marx.  It was widely known that he was
from the 312 NPA -- Chicago, Illinois.

In the following issue of Phrack Inc. we have PWN Issue VI/Part 1 and an
article entitled, "Marx and Tabas:  The Full Story."  This article further
explains how Steve Dahl was busted (for unknown crimes) in Miami, Florida by
the U.S. Secret Service and then made a deal to help them get Karl Marx and
Mark Tabas.

So is the Steve Dahl of WLUP in Chicago the same Steve Dahl from Chicago that
helped the U.S. Secret Service nail Mark Tabas and Karl Marx?
_______________________________________________________________________________

Reach Out And Tap Someone Revisited                               July 30, 1989
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In Phrack World News Issue XXVI/Part 2 there was an article about two former
employees of Cincinnati Bell (Leonard Gates and Robert Draise) who claimed they
had had engaged in numerous illegal taps over a 12 year period at the request
of their supervisors at Cincinnati Bell and the Cincinnati Police Department.

Cincinnati Bell filed suit against the two men, Leonard Gates and Robert
Draise, claiming both were liars out to get even with the company after they
had been fired for other reasons.

"'Taint necessarily so," said a judge who agreed the charges may have some
merit, and permitted the class action suit against Cincinnati Bell to continue
this past week.

The class action suit claims that Cincinnati Bell routinely invaded the privacy
of thousands of people in the area by secretly tapping their phones at the
request of police or FBI officials over a twelve year period from 1972 - 1984.
The taps were mainly applied against political dissidents during the Vietnam
era, and in more recent years, against persons under investigation by the
United States Attorney in southern Ohio, without the permission of a court.

Now says the court, depending on the outcome of the class action suit, the
criminal trials of everyone in the past decade in southern Ohio may have to be
re-examined in light of illegal evidence gained by the United States Attorney,
via the FBI, as a result of the complicity of Cincinnati Bell with that agency,
courtesy of Robert Draise and Leonard Gates.

The testimony this past week got *very messy* at times.  Gates and Draise seem
determined to tell every dirty thing they know about Cincinnati Bell's security
department from the dozen years they worked there.  More details as the trial
continues.
_______________________________________________________________________________

The Grim Phreaker Cleared In Phone Scam                           June 30, 1989
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
by Suzanne Getman (Syracuse Herald Journal)

            "We disposed of this on the basis of his cooperation."

A college student who talked his way into being arrested in April (by speaking
with a chat operator) was cleared of charges against him this week.  Kevin C.
Ashford aka The Grim Phreaker, age 22, was arrested by sheriff's deputies on
April 21 a mere five minutes after using a payphone to speak with an operator
on the Onadaga Community College campus and charged with theft of services, a
misdemeanor.

Ashford admitted placing about 30 calls to a party lines known as bridges by
using phony credit card numbers and extenders.  "We disposed of this on the
basis of his cooperation, our problem with proof, and his completion of 30
hours of community service," Assistant District Attorney Timothy Keough said.
Ashford had cooperated by assisting and providing information to the Sheriff's
Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Secret Service for
more than three weeks.  There was no problem with proof however because Ashford
admitted he was guilty of all of the crimes.

Ashford was arrested in Onadaga Community College campus' Gordon Student Center
on April 21, minutes after he placed a call to a nationwide party line called
Systems 800 International (who offered to drop charges if they could receive
copies of Phrack Inc. Newsletter from him and if he would work for them
trapping others).  Company officials said there is no way to establish the cost
of the fraudulent calls.  "Without a dollar amount, we didn't have proof.
Without proof, we couldn't prosecute," Keough said.

                         Article Submitted by DarkMage
_______________________________________________________________________________

Phony IRS Refunds By Computer                                   August 17, 1989
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
By John King (Boston Globe)

        "Computer Filer Got $325,000 In Phony Refunds, IRS claims."

Clever tax preparers are one thing, but a clever bookkeeper who allegedly pried
325,000 dollars from the Internal Revenue Service found himself on the wrong
side of the law yesterday, August 16.

In what may be the nation's first charge of electronic tax fraud, IRS special
agents yesterday arrested Alan N. Scott of West Roxbury [a suburb of Boston],
saying he claimed 45 fraudulent income tax refunds for amounts ranging from
3,000 dollars to 23,000 dollars.

The IRS charges that Scott, age 37, used the service's new electronic filing
system -- open only to tax preparers -- to submit phony claims with assumed
names and Social Security numbers.  In some cases, the names used were of
people in prison, according to Chief Kenneth Claunch, IRS Criminal
Investigation Division.

"The computer age has spawned a new breed of criminal," Claunch said in a
statement.

New in tools, perhaps.  As for the basic idea -- filing a false return in order
to snare an unwarranted refund -- that's old hat, admitted IRS spokeswoman
Marti Melecio.

"I can't say that it's a new trick.  We've had fraud cases with paper returns,"
Melecio said.  "The time frame is different, though.  With electronic filings,
the returns come back in two or three weeks."

According to the IRS, Scott received electronic filing status on January 31.
He did this by using a false Social Security number, and making false
statements on his application.  However, the IRS also says Scott electronically
filed 10 returns where he used his own name as a preparer, and these returns
appear to be legitimate.

The scheme was uncovered by a "questionable refund detection team," at the IRS
service center in Andover, Massachusetts.  Also, the IRS credited a tip from an
unnamed Boston bank "which reported a suspicious electronic transfer of funds
to an individual," presumably Scott.

If convicted, Scott faces a possible prison sentence and up to 250,000 dollars
in fines on each of the counts of fraud.
_______________________________________________________________________________

Paris Computer Takes Law Into Its Own Hands                   September 6, 1989
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From The Guardian

A crusading computer has taken the law into its own hands and caught 41,000
Parisians on charges of murder, extortion, prostitution, drug trafficking and
other serious crimes.  But the big round-up ended in embarrassment after an
admission by the City Hall yesterday that the electronic "Batman" could not
tell the difference between a parking offense and gang warfare.  "The accused
persons will be receiving letters of apology," an official at the City Hall
Treasury department said. "Instead of receiving summons on criminal charges,
they should have been sent reminders of unpaid motoring fines in April.
Somehow the standard codes we use for automatically issued reminders got mixed
up."

The first hint of the avenging computer's self-appointed mission to clean up
the capital came at the weekend.  Hundreds of Parisians received printed
letters accusing them of big crimes, but demanding only petty fines for the
major crimes of between $50 and $150 (pounds - UK equivalent).  "About 41,000
people are involved and some of the charges are quite weird," the official
admitted.  "One man has complained of being accused of dealing in illegal
veterinary products.  Unfortunately, other accusations went much further, like
man-slaughter through the administration of dangerous drugs."  "There were a
lot of cases of living off immoral earnings, racketeering and murder."  The
official said an inquiry had been started to see if the caped computer had a
human accomplice.  So far, no one has asked the Joker if he was in Paris last
week.
_______________________________________________________________________________

Chalisti Magazine by the Chaos Computer Club                    August 20, 1989
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In the future, there will be an electronic magazine, published by, and
concerning the Chaos Computer Club.  It is called Chalisti and the name is
derived from "Kalisti," the Goddess of Chaos and will, hopefully, stand for
creative Chaos and not for chaotic, but, as always only time will tell.

The idea is like this...

Over the different data networks, masses of information flow.  On the Usenet it
is about 100 MB/Month, on the CREN (Bitnet + CSNet) the flow is about the same
size.  On top of these flows, there is the information from national networks
like Zerberus, BTX and Geonet.  Mostly, a person only gets information from one
network and that is why interesting information on data protection, data
security, alternative uses of computers, environment, university etc. are being
broadcast over only one network.

Information from the networks for the networks, but that is not all.  There
should emerge a list of editors, that is spread over a large area, and works
over the nets.  Information and and opinions should be exchanged, but also
further contacts will emerge.

The first edition of Chalisti will presumably be published mid-September.
Because of this, the list of editors is relatively small, one will publish
stuff from the newest "Datenschleuder", the MIK-magazine and the most
interesting messages from the nets that appear in the following weeks.  But as
soon as the 2nd edition will appear, the content will be different from the
"Datenschleuder."

In Chalisti, copy and messages from the nets and other media (MIK, and others)
will be published as well.  Articles meant especially for the Chalisti magazine
are requested and these articles will be published with the highest priority.

The magazine will be no bigger than 100 KB/Month.  In case of doubt, articles
will be kept for the forthcoming edition or for the fall in copy in the Summer.
But it is also possible, that too few articles are being sent in, in which
case the content will be spiced with information from DS, the nets and the
MIK-magazine.  In this way, a regular emerging of editions is being secured.

The first edition is due 15th of September.  The second at the end of October.
At that date, the holiday will be ended, and a editorial and informal
infrastructure will be built.  From then on, there should be an edition every
month.

The editorial part will presumably be done on EARN or CREN.  That bears the
advantage that quick reactions on recent messages will be possible, as well as
the possibility to talk it over at Relay's or Galaxy Meetings, and in this way,
an international medium is available.  Writers of articles or editors from
other nets can be contacted, and there shouldn't be no technical problems in
getting the job done.  Especially on UUCP and Zerberus, facilities will be
created.

As ways of contacting the Editors, the following Networks are available:

         EARN/CREN   - Distribution will be done over CHAMAS (107633@DOLUNI1).
                       There will be a board for Chalisti, as well as a CUG
                       for the board of Editors.  Contact there will be
                       151133@DOLUNI1.  Presumably, from the beginning of
                       October, the userid CHAMAINT@DOLUNI1 will be available.

         UUCP/Subnet - Contacting will be possible through chalist@olis,
                       ccc@mcshh and through ..!tmpmbx!DOLUNI1.bitnet!151133.

         UUCP/Dnet   - Contacting will be possible through simon@uniol.
                       Distribution will proceed through this id in
                       dnet.general.

         Zerberus    - At this moment: terra@mafia and terra@chaos-hh. From
                       mid-September on, presumably through chalist@subetha.

         BTXNet      - Unknown yet.

         GeoNet      - mbk1:chaos-team. Time will show, whether distribution
                       of the magazine will be done on GeoNet.

Contacting or distribution through FidoNet and MagicNet has been planned for,
but has to be built first.

Interested people are being asked to use these addresses.  For the absolute
uncontactable, there is a Snailmail address as well:

Frank Simon
12 Kennedy Street
2900 Oldenburg, FRG (West Germany)

04411/592607 (Telephone)

Greets

     Terra
_______________________________________________________________________________

Computer-Based Airline Ticket Scam                              August 14, 1989
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Taken from the Los Angeles Times

Phoenix police arrested four people as they continued to unravel a bogus
airline ticket ring that allegedly sold millions of dollars of stolen tickets
by advertising discounted fares in national publications.  Investigators said
the individuals put together a major conspiracy by knowing how to access
airline computers to put travel itineraries in the computer system.
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In the interests of equal access to information for all, I have decided to
include some of the supposed deep secrets of how to access airline computers
and inset travel itineraries.

This can be done from virtually any telephone nationwide (including a rotary
dial telephone).  This can of course also be done from a public payphone if you
should decide to make sure your identity is anonymous.

It is necessary to determine the phone number for an airline's computer.  All
you have to do is call 1-800 directory assistance (1-800-555-1212).  Ask for
Ozark Airlines reservations (a no longer existent company that was purchased by
Trans World Airways [TWA] used here only as an example).  The operators on duty
will read you a number, 800-PRE-SUFF.

Call this number and you will be connected with the Ozark Airlines reservation
office.  Here they will have a database which stores all of Ozark's
itineraries.  Simply state the date, flight number, departure and destination
cities, and passenger name.  It's that easy!  You can later dial the same
access number and cancel or modify your itineraries.  The system even includes
search functions if you don't know the flight number, and an extensive help
system (just say "How do I make a reservation?").
_______________________________________________________________________________

Fighting Back Against Junk Calls                              September 4, 1989
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"We are not Pavlov's dogs and should not have to jump everytime a bell rings."

And if we do hop to the phone on demand, we ought to be paid for it, says
Bulmash, president of Private Citizen, Inc., a Warrenville, IL organization
designed to prevent what Bulmash describes as "junk calls" from telemarketers.

We deserve at least a C-note -- $100, he says.

Twice a year, Bulmash, age 43, a paralegal by trade, mails a directory of
people who don't wish to have telephone solicitors call them to 600
telemarketing firms.  Along with the directories, he sends a contract which
states that the people listed will listen to the solicitors only in exchange
for $100.

If the solicitors call, the contract says, the telemarketing company owes the
listener $100.  It's for "use of private property -- the phone, your ear, your
time," says Bulmash.

Subscribers, now numbering about 1000, pay $15 per year to be listed in the
Private Citizen directory.

While Bulmash doesn't guarantee you won't be called, he does offer some
success stories.  He says subscribers have collected anywhere from $5 - $92
from telemarketing companies.  He offers a money-back deal for those
subscribers not completely satisfied.  He says only one person has taken him up
on it.

"You can tell those companies 500 times over the phone not to call and they
won't listen," Bulmash says.  "But when you threaten them with charging them
for your time, that gets their attention."

Bulmash, who began Private Citizen in May, 1988, says telemarketers have the
attitude of "we're big business, so you just hang up the phone if you don't
like us.  I say we have a right to be left alone in the first place, at least
in our homes."  Typically, a telemarketing call to a home has less than a 3
percent success rate, he said, with the other 97 percent of us -- and we know
who we are -- being unnecessarily inconvenienced.

Bulmash says he has testified before Illinois and California state legislative
committees and has lobbied state and federal lawmakers for relief from
telemarketers.  He teaches the members of his organization how to bill for
their time, and in many cases, make the charges stick and get payment for
"the use of their time, ear and phone."

For more information on Private Citizen, contact Bulmash at 312-393-1555.

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Banned in Boston -- Telemarketer Gets Sued!                  September 14, 1989
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Alan Schlesinger's stock in trade is suing people.  But you might say his stock
is too hot to handle at Merrill Lynch these days.  A Boston lawyer who hates
telephone solicitors, Schlesinger sued Merrill Lynch after the brokerage firm
ignored "repeated requests" to quit calling him with investment proposals.

To Merrill Lynch's surprise, he won an injunction.  Indeed, he sued them twice
and won both times.  The second time was after an unwitting broker called him
in violation of the court order prohibiting it.

"This is something that bothers a lot of people, but they don't have the sense
they can do something about it," said Schlesinger, whose best retort is a tort,
it would seem.  In the second suit, the court awarded him $300, for the costs
of his prosecution of the matter and for his time spent on the phone with the
brokerage house's phone room.

"He is using an atom bomb to deal with a gnat," said William Fitzpatrick,
chief lawyer for the Securities Industry Association, faulting Schlesinger
for doing what comes naturally for an attorney:  "Being a lawyer myself,
I can only guess he doesn't have enough brains to just hang up the phone."
_______________________________________________________________________________

Downloaded From P-80 International Information Systems 304-744-2253 12yrs+