How an unauthorized person can gain access to your long-distance service

Get to know the ways thieves and hackers can gain access to your long-distance service

Ways to get unauthorized access

There are many possibilities. Thieves or hackers can: 

Break into your PBX using Direct Inward System Access (DISA), remote access and maintenance ports or modems, and place calls as though they originated from your system
Break into your voice-mail system and take over mailboxes, and/or steal long distance by obtaining an outside line or by programming mailboxes to accept third-party billed calls
Use your toll-free numbers (800, 888, 877) and make calls that you didn't intend to or want to pay for
Go through your trash, commonly known as 'dumpster diving,' searching for codes
Use your printed internal telephone directory to try and 'recruit' your employees
Con your switchboard and reception staff into accepting collect calls or connecting them to long distance trunks, a technique known as 'social engineering'
Bill international calls to your telephone number by employing a third number billing scam
'Shoulder surf' in airports or other public locations to obtain authorization codes by looking over callers' shoulders as they use them

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