Phone line hacked? Is it possible?

[1doohan]

Had an alarming call from VM asking about my Internatinal phone calls. I thought they were going to sell me some cheap rate deal or something, then he mentioned 2 calls to the value of £110 last night to Djibouti????????? and somewhere else i could'nt register due to the shock. The times the calls were made were between 8pm and 11pm when i was in, on my own and did not use the phone in this period. In now have to dispute the calls when i get the bill, have an engineer come round to check the line, if no fault is found pay £110 for the calls and £75 for the engineer. How has this happened and what are my consumer rights? If £110 got spent on my credit card, i would file a fraud report with the police and get refunded.............eventually. PS, i noticed the green cable cabinet at the base of the block of flats where i live with it's door wide open,looks like its been forced too,even though i can't imagine someone sitting there with a phone connected to my line chatting away for a few hours. Another thing, i recieved a call at 23:26, bit late i thought, answered it and the foreign male voice simply said "sorry to disturb you" and hung up straight away. Dialed 1471 out of curiosity and it gave a foreign number.

[Pushkar]

It is possible that somebody else is using your line, there was a thread on here a few weeks ago about the very same problem.

[m419]

put call baring on,that will stop them. I have put on call baring to international and premium rate and mobiles as well as operator services just incase.

There was a case where someone hacked into BT's phone exchange near Norwich and called 090 numbers from hundreds of telephone lines.

Apparently phone fraud is costing BT millions, whats even worse, voip users aren't safe either,in fact its even easier to hack into since its internet based.

I'm actually considering sending suggestions to the main phone companies such as BT,Virgin Media,Cable&Wireless,Colt,Thus,Kingston,Opal/TalkTalk,3,Orange,Vodafone,O2 and T-Mobile.

suggesting that they block calls such destinations or else set up some kind of pin number protection to prevent this happening.

Some providers have already blocked calls to 070,0907 and 0909 numbers because of fraud and misuse of services,O2 for example has blocked most 070 numbers because of the high costs.

[1doohan]

They put call barring on Intl numbers now , think i'll get them to bar the phone for all out going calls!

[Matthew]

At work on Vodafone we cannot call 09 numbers, its a PITA when we have to call one of our support companies who insist on having a 09 number!

[petethemanc]

As an engineer myself, yes it is possible for someone who has access to the cab to make calls from there. You would be suprised just how often this happens. The way they do it is they (the scammers) set up a premuim rate number whivh they own. Then they tap in to lines in the cab (sorry BT term i know but i have worked for them mainly) and make the calls that earns them money. This can be traced no problem by engineers. I would advise you take pictures of the cab before it is repaired. Really the cabs should be stored under ground in cable pits and not the way they are.

[1doohan]

Thanks for that piece of info.
Virgin were supposed to contact me within 48 hours after disputing bill. Week later not a sound from them. Dirct debit date approaching fast.

[scooby-doo]

i can confirm with petethemanc, it is possible for someone to access the cab and patch into any of the 200 or so customer lines and make calls. some cabs are continually vandalised with doors hanging off all the time making it easy to access, all be it the cabs are in the open usually and this would draw attention. another way is to tap in further down the line at the entry point of customer homes, especially if its a block of flats were more than 1 line will be entering. best to setup call baring and a pin number for mobiles and premium rate numbers

[1doohan]

Virgin told me it is unlikely my line has been tampered with at the green cab due the technical knowledge involved.

[scooby-doo]

they would say that, it is uncommon but not impossible, get an engineer out, although if they find nothing wrong, it strengthens their case not yours. its not that difficult to tap in to any line, if u dont have the correct tools you could always bare back the wires and patch in that way. obviously if it has been done this way it will be random that your line was targeted. you could always slip the engineer a few quid if he finds nothing wrong, ask him to say it was crossed line or summit

[JayJay]

Anyone can stick two wires together.

Where are u based 1doohan?

[webrosc]

Originally Posted by scooby-doo

they would say that, it is uncommon but not impossible, get an engineer out, although if they find nothing wrong, it strengthens their case not yours. its not that difficult to tap in to any line, if u dont have the correct tools you could always bare back the wires and patch in that way. obviously if it has been done this way it will be random that your line was targeted. you could always slip the engineer a few quid if he finds nothing wrong, ask him to say it was crossed line or summit

would that be like you see in the films where a guy is up the pole and attaches croc clips onto the line and listens in to the calls? Not exactly the same i know as it would be silly to show exactly how its done.

[JayJay]

It is fairly the same webrosc. Except it wouldnt be up a pole :-P

[jonnyjai]

wow
after reading all of this
i called up VM and had them put up call baring and pin