From: Richard Storey <cognitus@earthlink.net>
Date: Mon, 3 Aug 1998 09:06:29 -0700 (PDT)
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: Re: Anonymous phone calls
In-Reply-To: <D104150098E6D111B7830000F8D90AE8017943@exna02.securitydynamics.com>
Message-ID: <35C5E0C7.CEF4F93D@earthlink.net>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


Trei, Peter wrote:
> 
>         Bill Stewart [SMTP:bill.stewart@pobox.com] wrote:
> 
>         >At 05:49 PM 8/2/98 -0700, scoops wrote:
>         >>Would some one be kind enough to suggest anonymous phone
>         >>call services?
>         >>I know about some supposedly untraceable 900# at $3.95 per
>         >>minute.  What about an anonymous prepaid service 800# or a
>         >>calling card.
> 
>         >Sure - there's a much cheaper, easier approach.  Go buy a
>         >phone card.  There are some phone cards that insist on being
>         >recharged by credit card, but there are lots that you can
>         >buy at your local convenience store that don't insist on it,
>         >and the ones at ethnic grocery stores which let you call
>         >Mexico or China at moderately outrageous rates are more
>         >likely to be cash-only.  Or you can go to your airport (if
>         >you're not too paranoid about Them watching you :-) and buy
>         >phone cards like The Official San Francisco Phone Card, in
>         >return for US$20 bills.
> 
>         At about the same effort, you can be even more secure. Use
>         cash.  Change your $20 bill for a couple rolls of quarters
>         and walk up to any pay phone that takes coins. Put in a
>         quarter, and dial your number. You'll hear something like
>         'Please insert $3.50 for the first three minutes.' Shove in
>         the coins, and talk. Works fine for long distance as well as
>         local calls. Much cheaper than the 900#.
> 
>         If you use a calling card for more than a single call, those
>         calls can be linked to each other. It may also be possible
>         to trace where the card was sold.
> 
>         Peter Trei
>         ptrei@securitydynamics.com


Also, even the private-switch operations selling cash-paid calling cards
have records of the calls made on their systems, though those records
might not be in a form that makes them readily linkable to the orginator
of a given call--it all depends on how much it's worth to the pursuer to
pursue you.

Richard Storey