Topic for today:  Beige Boxing
             Written by     :  Dr. Ditto of SOF
             Contact BBS    :  717 - 442 - 9011


     F.R.O.G. - Foneline: Recieving/Outgoing, Guarded phreaking.


The reason I call this FROG phreaking is simple - you use the
Foneline, can Recieve calls and make Outgoing calls, and you are
basically Guarded when you do it.  (Actually, I have this fone that
looks like a frog, which I "modified" to use for phreaking, so I
decided to use those letters as an acronym.  Pretty neat, huh?)
In reality, this idea is known as "Beige Boxing".  But, since I
didn't know that at the time I wrote this phile, and since I
despise the color beige, *I'M* gonna call it frogging.  You call it
whatever you want.

FROG phreaking is a bit different from other phreaking, which you
do in the privacy of your own home.  There are a few downfalls to
using codes, and phreaking from your home, such as 1) The call can
be traced  2) The Phone Company keeps a log of ALL your outgoing
calls, incoming calls, and the time you spent talking.  They know
which number you call, and when, and which number called you, etc.
3) Sometimes codes can bill, and if you use them from your own
line, you can be billed  4) The phone co takes interest in your use
of codes - if they see you ripping them off too much, they squash
you.
     As you can see, it's VERY easy to get busted, if you aren't
careful.  FROG phreaking (Frogging, from now on) is a bit safer, in
some respects.  And then again, maybe not.  It's not for everyone,
but you can decide that for yourself.
     With Frogging, you don't use your own fone line.  You use your
neighbors.  Or your bosses.  Or the one for the old warehouse down
the street.  Simply put, Frogging involves tapping into another
person's phone line, which is HIGHLY ILLEGAL.  Frogging involves
trespassing, and possibly being seen,, depending on how secretive
you are.  Frogging is, to say the least, something you DON'T want
to get caught doing.  Consider yourself warned.

                         FROGGING Basics

     Like most kinds of phreaking, you will need some special
equipment.  Here is a list of things you WILL need:

          1) Lineman's Handset (or a working, MODIFIABLE phone)
          2) Screwdriver (flathead, in most cases)
          3) Two alligator clips (preferably insulated)
          4) Solder and Soldering Iron
          5) Electricians Tape
          6) * 20' of phone wire & phone jack (female)
          7) * Flashlight (test it!)
          8) * SPST switch
The items with asterisks (*) are OPTIONAL, but helpful.  The rest
is definitely needed.  Now, it's really nice if you have a
lineman's handset, but since 99.9% of the people don't, I'll tell
ya how to make one, from your MODIFIABLE phone (not the one in your
kitchen that mommy uses to call for pizza, ok?!?!)  You should use
a small ONE PIECE phone (with the dial and hangup buttons on the
handset), preferably TOUCH TONE, but not necessary, and it would be
nice if it had a lighted dial, so you can see to dial at night.
Here's how to fix the phone, to allow it to be used on ANY phone
line:

1) Cut the plug off the end of the phone cord, but leave about 2
inches of wire connected to the plug.  You may be glad later that
you did.  NOTE: If you have the 20' of wire and female phone jack,
don't bother cutting up the phone cord.  You can, but it's probably
a waste of time.

2) Back to the phone cord - you will see 4 wires: red, green,
black, and yellow.  Ignore the black and yellow, cause they aren't
used at all for our purpose.  Strip the red and green wires about
1/2 an inch, and solder one alligator clip to the red wire, and one
to the green wire.  Allow the solder to cool (about 30 seconds) and
wrap the soldered joints with electrical tape.  If you are using
the 20' of wire, solder an alligator clip to the red and green
wires, as told above.  Then, attatch the female phone plug to the
other end of the wire, making a kind of Phreakers extension cord.
(Be sure to hook the red and green wires up to the right place!)
Your phone can then be plugged into the phone jack, which in turn
runs into the alligator clips.  This way, the phone will need no
modification.

3) Well, the easy stuff (?) is done; now for the PHUN part!  Go
outside to the phone box on your house, and (using that
screwdriver) open it.  There are more types of phone boxes than
there are IBM compatibles, so it's tough to describe what you will
see, in detail.  All boxes are the same, for the most part, though.

You will probably see a phone cord plugged into a test jack.  This
is the line that connects your house to the outside phone lines.
Pull out the plug, and your house fones go dead. Put it back in,
and they reconnect (how brilliant we are today!)  ANYWAY - hook
your modified telephone (HANDSET from now on) onto the screws in
your phone box.  Be sure to hook the red clip to the red wire, and
the green clip to the green wire. (Tough, I know...)  When you
listen to your handset, you should hear a dial tone.  You can now
place or recieve calls.  If you don't hear a dialtone, try
reversing the alligator clips, or try other screws, until you find
a combination that produces a dialtone.  There WILL be one.  Now,
an interesting fact that you SHOULD know already.  Almost every
house or building that has a phone has one of those boxes outside.
Get the picture?  You can open up anyone's box, and use their phone
line. Some older houses are "hardwired" to the phone line, and
there is no box.  The wires usually connect near the roof of the
house, and they're just a bit out of our reach.  So, you'll have to
find a house with a box if yours doesn't have one.
    If you know the number for ANI (Automatic Number
Identification) you can dial it, and see which number you're
calling from.  This is VERY important if you wish to recieve calls
while you're phreaking (keep the ringer volume down!)
    On some telephone poles, you can find boxes just like those on
the side of a house.  Simply connect your handset, and call away.
If there are multiple lines in the box, dial ANI to find out the
numbers, then call them, to see who lives there.  In Lancaster Co,
and surrounding areas, ANI is 311.  Just dial that, and a machine
will tell you the number you're calling from.  That number probably
changes from area to area, so ask a few local hackers what the ANI
number is, and you should be able to find out.  If not, try calling
the phone company, and worm the info out of them.  If they say they
can't tell ya, call a friend who works for Ma Bell, and check it
out.  Either way, ANI is a VERY handy number to have.
     Now, back to the poles...  I mentioned before that there are
boxes on telephone poles which hold connections.  Mess with 'em if
you want, but be careful - remember - if the person who owns the
line picks up the phone, he's able to listen to any conversation
you have going on, and you CANNOT hang him up!  So, if you call
your girlfriend who lives 3 counties away, while Frogging, and the
owner of the line you're using picks up his phone, he is now
listening to ya, and even if you hang up, he is still connected
with your girlfriend!  NOT GOOD! It's a good way to get busted,
really!  That's where the optional SPST (single pole single throw)
switch comes in.  If you connect it between the box screw and the
wire going to his house, you can flip it and hang him up.  His
phones will go dead, and it will give you a chance to disconnect
and get out of there!  If you intend to use one particular line a
lot, I recommend hooking up a safety switch, as a precaution.  (Be
sure to turn his line on again, though, before you take off, or
he'll get the phone company out there, and they will see your
little rig) It's best to do your frogging when the people are away
on vacation, or late at night, after they go to bed.  (It's kinda
nice to be under the cover of darkness, too, as some kid standing
beside a phone pole in front of a house and talking on a phone is
probably going to draw attention from the neighbors).
     Now, if you plan on calling a BBS, it's kinda tough to use the
Frogging technique, unless you have a laptop. You can use your
imagination, though, to figure out a way to get a full blown 386
and VGA monitor plugged in beside the road, so as to use the
frogging technique.  Good luck, bud.
     Frogging is basically for voice phone calls, which are to be
made long distance.  Please remember, though, that the person who
owns the line you are using will get billed, and after a while
he'll start to get suspicious.  Of course, if you hate the person,
find one of those 900 numbers that charges $30 the first minute,
and call it 5 or 6 times from his phoneline.  NASTY!!
     I have found that the best place to go beige boxing is
somewhere like an industrial park.  They are usually deserted after
dark, and those big companies probably don't scrutinize the phone
bill very carefully, so they probably won't get suspicious too
fast.
     Another thing to keep a lookout for are those 2 foot high
rectangular phone company boxes that you'll often find in a new
developement when there are underground phone lines.  Those boxes
can hold from one up to about 20 different lines, and they are
really easy to get into.  There is a bolt holding them closed, and
it's protected by a round disk, so you can't use a normal wrench to
loosen it.  Well, use a pliers.  Loosen the bolt, but don't take it
out.  If it's loose enough to turn easily, you can open the box.
Simply pull up on the front panel, and walla, hacker heaven.  If
you have trouble getting the thing open, get a bolt cutters, cut
the bolt, and use a screwdriver to open the thing up.  I have yet
to find one that takes more than a minute to open...   but the
first one took a while, until I figured out how to do it.  Anyway,
once it's open, you'll see rows of connections, that are in this
setup:
                     O  <-\
                 O  <------\_____ One Line pair
 O=bolt              O  <-\
                 O  <------\______ Another line pair
                     O  <-\
                 O  <------\______ Third line pair

The lines are paired as shown.  Try all possible line pairs,
because each pair of bolts could be hooked up.  Also, try reversing
red and green wires for each pair, too, since there doesn't appear
to be any standard setup in these boxes.  The nice thing about
these boxes is that they open up so many numbers, so you can use
the same box over and over, on different lines, and people won't
get suspicious as fast.  Most of these boxes are REALLY close to
the road, too, and it's quite simple to park near one, hook up, and
sit in your car and talk on the phone!  Keeps things more private.
Of course, if someone gets your license number, you're screwed.
     There are literally MILLIONS of phone boxes out there, just
begging to be tapped into.  Always be sure to choose one in a
secluded spot, and try not to be too obvious.  Blend in...  while
you're hooking up, keep an eye out for cars coming, and, worse yet,
people walking!  If a car comes you can walk away, till it's out of
sight.  Or, if you are in a car, pop off the right rear hubcap, and
throw it in your trunk, before trying to hook up.  Then, if anyone
asks why you're parked there, say you lost the hubcap and are
looking for it along the edge of the road.  it might seem like a
lot of trouble, but hey, it's a sure way to cover your butt!  And
I'd rather pop off a hubcap than get fined a few thousand bucks for
violating federal wiretap laws, trespassing laws, and whetever else
they'd nail you for!!!
    In summary:  You now know how to beige box correctly.  Don't be
afraid to experiment - phone lines don't contain enough voltage to
shock you, or blow up your phone.  Play a bit, and learn.  Above
all, don't get caught!

                   >><*><< DoctoR DiTTo >><*><<

                      Of Shadow of The Future

                         Call 717-442-9011

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