And They Call Us Crooks?

by Silent Switchman

A friend and I got together one day and we said, "Let's see if we can make some money trying to help out various communications companies by finding faults in things where they are losing money."

It is sort of like patching holes in an automobile tire to keep the air from escaping.  I am sure that some of the readers out there have had said to themselves, "Gee, look at this.  If this phone company only knew that you could take advantage of their system that way, I bet that I could try to make a little money and help them out and they can help me out."  It is a thought that a phone phreak often has - to tell the big company the flaws in its systems and to be rewarded - a symbiotic relationship.

In one of the new digital switching systems, we found some very good ways where you can make long-distance calls for free from any telephone - rotary or Touch-Tone.  When contacting one of the major manufacturers, they said, "We will test this out, and if it's worth anything, we will let you know."  I had also told this company several other things before, and they had said to me then.  "We will let this be a free sample to prove yourself to us."  So I gave them two very good free samples as to problems in their system, including the name of one system saboteur who was going around destroying systems (switching systems, that is).  This was to be a sample as to what I was going to do for them.

Then when I found this other thing where any and everybody in the USA could make a free call on a GTD-5 digital switch - I didn't come right out and tell them exactly what it was.  I said, "If you pay me a small consultant's fee of $500, I could save you several hundred thousand dollars a month."  They were not interested; they wanted me to tell them first, and it started a big thing.

This friend of mine contacted a very large long-distance carrier (with an all American name) and told them of problems with their long-distance company.  They promised him a consultant fee of $30,000, which may sound pretty hefty, but would have paid for itself in a short period of time.  They solved many of the problems in their network, and when it finally came down to pay the bill (my friend had actually spent time and money), the long-distance carrier said "We do not feel we owe you anything.  But you can give us information about our system any time you want to."

The big long-distance phone company with the American-sounding name said that one reason that they were not going to pay the individual is because they had been screwed by a phone phreak in the past who was passing around the information, creating the problem and then trying to make money on it.  My friend who simply tried to make some money contracting did not have that in mind.  The company had originally said that they "pay for information that is used to stop problems within our system."  He reminded them of this comment, and they since have denied it.  So this very large company has now reneged on a verbal contract and they have made no attempt to reimburse him for his expenses.

My experiences with various companies have led me to believe that there is no real way for someone like me to provide expert advice.  So here I am, holding a secret to the GTD-5 switch, where people can make free calls.  I would estimate that the cost to the company would be from $100,000 to $125,000 per month, and it is increasing as more and more people take advantage of this bug.  The GTD-5 (General Telephone Digital) is made by Automatic Electric.

So, basically, the moral of this story is: Do not trust a company that you are ever going to do business with, whether it is a telephone company or a big corporation.  Do not call up an engineer or a vice president of a company or somebody in telephone security, and do not believe it when they tell you that they will pay for services rendered.  If they ever make you a promise, get it in writing, because they will cheat you.

(At the request of the author, the flaw in the GTD-5 switch will not be printed in this issue, but in next month's issue.)