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Is there any way to make a phone call anonymously? Caller ID can be blocked somewhat with one of those *## numbers dialed before the call is made. Is there a way to route a call through a series of phone-type remailer systems? This would allow one to make a call that would be as hard to trace as anonymous mail.

There's a 1-900 number that is supposed to do this. Which I could remember what it was.

I think it's 1-900-STOPPER. Not sure, use it at your own risk. Routing calls through many locations is possible if you aren't wound up about toll fraud; once upon a time it was SOP, back when MCI and the rest all had 7-digit local dialups which gave you another dialtone; folks who wanted to make tracing a call tougher could call a local dialup, use a "k0de" and call a dialup across the country, use a "k0de" to call a third dialup, and so forth; finally use another "k0de" to call the real target. Signal quality decreases with each hop. I imagine that folks still do this with PBX's and the like, though my impression is that there isn't much left for a phreak to do these days. Don't forget our friend Mister Payphone. Not stylish, but still relatively anonymous. Also useful may be the pre-paid calling cards; Pat Townson (sp?), the Telecom Digest moderator, was selling them for awhile. I understand they're also available in truck stops and on college campuses, but can't remember seeing them. (Haven't gone looking, though). I've got a few of the ones that Pat was selling left, if anyone wants to pony up some Tacky Tokens. The ones I've seen involve an 800 number, so somebody knows you made the call - but if it's a peculiar little reseller connected to an aggregator who buys time from whoever's got it cheapest, it may be hard to track them down to make them talk. And, of course, there are any number of ways to "borrow" a phone with varying degrees of legality/morality - lots of places around town here have "courtesy phones" where you can make a local call; just ask a salesperson in a department store, or look around at a university. If you've got a lineman's set - or a cheap $10 phone with alligator clips instead of an RJ-11, any phone line can be yours, for a few minutes. I guess the short answer is that the really anonymous ways aren't convenient or legal, if it's a long-distance call. Remember, blocking caller ID means that the called party doesn't know who called, but the phone company still does. -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.3a iQCVAgUBLcjbqX3YhjZY3fMNAQHszQP/VFbx/H7wIHTgo0q1cs7KtWL7BDaaNCMH TF5xjGCYnnvJiCblw4uPjiMsHMwq01fO8duqD6H5+9KtBtAG8dEAD9IMUTITS+/3 mE2mGNRYI9xpIyzCLevTC5llTRIMhHhx/XweWtuJyf3vJzlwkRH7s8VHAdSeoO08 73Vj8XCcszU= =YjOb -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----