|2-RedBox Dangers







                               By Signal
                           (American Article)

   All  real  phreakers  know  that  a  redbox  is a great tool, if used
wisely.  Redboxes can be used to make both local and LD calls.  However,
as  we know, to make a local call, one must first dial '0' and then make
up  some  excuse like 'excuse me operator, the 5 button on this payphone
doesn't  seem to be working.' The TSPS operator would ask you to deposit
25 cents and dial then dial the number for you.  Normally you don't need
an  excuse  to  have  the operator dial a number for you.  But in recent
years  the  operators  have  become 'smarter' and aware of the rat shack
tone-dialer  conversion.   Nowadays  if  you  ask the operator to dial a
number  for  you,  for no apparent reason, he/she will become suspicious
almost  immediately.   Although  they will place the call whether or not
you  give them a reason, the will be listening to you when you place the
tones.   Sometimes, I have discovered, that using a redbox to make local
calls  doesn't  allways  work, as I have had the operator inform me that
the  quarter  was  not  registering  and  that I was using an electronic
device.   The operator then said that she was going to call security and
to  please  wait on the line.  I think you can guess what I did then.  I
have never had a problem dialing long distance though.  This is probably
because  it  is  automated when it asks for your money.  The main reason
that  the  operator  will  suspect that you are using a redbox is if the
tones generated are too loud, as this somehow impairs the TSPS's ability
to  detect  the quarter tones.  The quarter tones generated by the phone
are  usually  much quieter than that of the red box.  To get around this
problem,  hold  a  credit  card,  or piece of thin cardboard between the
redbox  and  the  mouthpiece.   This  should  significantly  reduce  the
loudness.  Another reason for the operator knowing that you are using an
'electronic  device'  is  that  the  speed  of the tones produced by the
redbox,  often  times  do  not match the speeds of the phone; the redbox
tones  are slightly, but noticably slower.  There is no real solution to
this type of problem, oh well, there are other phones out there.