Chris Miller

Tracing anyone but harrassing callers should be considered a violation of our privacy. And yet everytime you dial the phone personal information is sent not only to the called party but to the phone company and any long distance carrier you may be using. everyone should always have the option of blocking a trace, and I am not tlking about the *67 bone that the RBOC’s threw us to block caller id.

your information is usually sent in the form of Called id (cid) or ANI (Automatic number identification). caller id works through ss7 (signaling system 7) and the calling number is always sent between switches. the final switch in your calls path will store the cid data and depending on wether or not *67 was used your information will or will not be sent down the line to its destination between the first and second ring. since the information is stored in the switch *69 will work to call you back even though you blocked your call.

caller id boxes seem to be everywhere now but ani or automatic number identification is what you really have to worry about. ani is the information long distance companies use to decide who to bill. all switches are capable of sending ani.

to get a feel for ani lets look at 800# service. the 800#’s for most big companies have trunk lines from the inter exchange carrier (iec) and will receive ani before they even pick up the phone. most smaller companies and individuals with 800# service use whats called a pots line (plain old telephone service) when you place your call it goes to the iec which may not even be in the same state as the called party. the iec saves the ani and connects you with the number you dialed. if their customer is capable of recieving cid they may convert the ani to cid and pass it along. usually the customer wont receive your number until they receive a billing statement at the end of the billing cycle.

you should always be very concious of your cid and ani. always expect to be traced or to have your location known. there are tricks to eliminating or altering your cid and ani but the best chance lies in mobility. never use a number if it can be linked back to you. move around a lot, stay invisible. they got mitnik because he sat in his apartment and made cloned cell phone calls. changing clones often didn’t help him as they were always transmitting from the same spot.

regardless of where you are certain tricks will always come in handy. *67 (1167 on a rotary phone) should be used religously though its value is questionable. this per call blocking feature is punched into your keypad before you dial the number that you want to call. you will hear a stutter dial tone from which you dial. this feature blocks only the immediate call from passing cid. line blocking is available for free from your rboc. this festuyre blocks every call unless you press *67, or in some areas *82. be sure to check the line for blocking before using *67 as you may inadvertantly unblock your call. for some reason *67 will not work from pay phones and since 800#’s and 911 use ani *67 will not block your information from them. *69 and *57 will return your information or call you back from most switches even though you blocked your call. one way to get around the *69 call return is to forward your number to another.

calling through an operator eliminates both cid and ani. dial 0 and ask the operatopr to dial the number for you. if you want to change your ani instead of just block it ask them to transfer you to a long distance carrier. have the operator dial an 800# such as 800 collect or 800 operator or 800 call att. tell them the digits and not what it spells to be sure they connect you. when you are connected the operator will notice you have no ani and ask what number you are calling from. give them any real number in your area code and that will become your ani.

since changing your ani has come to the attention of the long distance carriers i have noticed operators saying “this is the last time i can dial an 800# for you.” to get around this if they refuse simply state that you are handicapped or that the payphone is damaged. you can also have handicapped status installed on your home phone line so that they cannot refuse to dial the number for you and you will not incur any extra charges.

calling through pre-paid calling cards will also change your ani. the number they recieve will be one of the outdial numbers for the calling card company. the problem here is the cost and the fact that you cant call 800#’s. also if you get caught with the pre-paid calling card in your possesion they can track every number that you called using that card as they did in the timothy mcviegh trial. plane air phones and regular cell phones will also give an outdial number that is different from the number you are calling from.

Call forwarding is an interesting thing. if you call a number that forwards you to an 800# the ani will be that of the forwarding number. however if you call a number with cid the number revealed will be your own.

setting up forwarding numbers never hurts. the more between you and the called party the better. just remember to block your cid.

with most non trace methods the more techniques you use the greater the loss in line integrety. for instance in new york one time i called a sprint pre paid calling card from a cocot. the tones on the cocot were muted so i had to transfer to an operator at another location. i knew this because they had to ask what 800# i had called. when i was finally connected it sounded like we were having the conversation through sludge.

regular calling cards wont change your ani if you use their tenex code. it is better to use the 800#. either way cid usually shows up as out of area.

diverters are kind of like call forwarding. they are also used by people who need to be reached twenty four hours a day. calling their office after hours will divert you to the number they are at. after you get them to hang up the dial tone you hear should be theirs. dial an anac and find out if you have found a diverter, i.e. it reads back a number besides your own.

to use conference calling to block a trace you call a person who has it and ask them to dial a number on the other line and connect you. they should also hit mute unless you want them interupting. this methods downfall is a potential conspiracy or aiding and abetting charge for your friend that helps you. you could link through any number of conferenced calls. the best way to utilize this would be to have an accomplice accept a call on a biege box. once they connect your call (using non-trace methods) they immediatly vacate the area while you are free to carry on your call. shorting the line off hook would be necessary.

even something as simple as placing a tenex code before your number can make tracing, cid, more difficult. as i write this more and more of the smaller ldc’s are capable of passing cid so be sure and experiment first by calling a friend with cid.

like i said before mobility is your best chance to prevent apprehension. thus biege boxing and payphones should be relied upon instead of tricks from your home or any business or school phone with which you may be associated. non trace methods used in conjunction with the biege box or payphone will increase your security.

people have been caught making harassing calls from payphones. one woman went around and wrote down the number and location of every payphone in her town. the next time her stalker called she kept him on the line while her daughters called the police from another line and gave them his location. she got the satisfaction of hearing him being arrested over the phone.