.; 
or prosecute you on the federal rap of Theft of Communications 
service, which carries fines of upto 10 years in jail and/or 
$10,000.  They usually don't go for legal action first, though. 

Why does Bell help their competion? Actually, it is rather 
simple. People were using Sprint to break into Bell's ESS 
computers. Bell could only trace the call back to Sprint. So, 
Sprint helps Bell catch the people it wants and visa-versa. ("You 
rub my back and I'll rub yours" type of deal.) 

By the way, trap numbers are also how Bell catches people who 
make harrasing phone calls to private residences. 

Finally, do not forget that these services have a copy of the 
number that you called. So, if a customer says he didn't call a 
certain #, they will usually call up that # and try to find out 
who did call at that time. 

So, to be safer on SPC, MCI, and others, follow the following 
suggestions: 

 1) Use a fortress fone (pay fone) whenever possible. Although, 
they have been know to stake out pay fones. Just don't use the 
same fone over and over again. In other words, move around. 

 2) Only call institutional switchboards, business that have no 
record of your call, and friends who are instant amnesiacs. 

 3) Try to keep all calls under 15 minutes when possible. 

NOTE:  No system is totally safe! When I classify something as 
safe or dangerous, that is just with respect to my opinion as 
well as that of several other phreaks. These opinions are based 
on how many people have been busted on them, what type of 
equipment they are using, and inside information. I cannot 
possibly guarantee that you will or will not get caught. 
Actually, with CCIS and ESS nothing is really safe anymore. 
Besides, what phun would there be in life without risks! 

At this point, I would like to mention the "official" phreak 
newsletter, TAP. TAP contains much info about phone phreaking and 
other illegal activities. Send a SASE for their info sheet, "What 
The Hell Is TAP?"  Their address is: 

     TAP
     Room 603
     147 West 42 Street
     New York, NY 10036

Coming soon:
------------

In Part II, we will look at the special Bell numbers such as 
CN/A, ATT Newslines, loops, ANI, ringback, and 99XX scanning. 

Until next time, I would like to leave you with a quote from The 
Magician: 

"Many people think of phone phreaks as slime, out to rip off Bell 
for all she is worth. Nothing could be further from the truth! 
Granted, there are some who get