From the SF Chronicle:
In recent months, hackers have been dialing into peoples' voice-mail boxes and trying to guess the password. If successful, they then record a new outgoing message. Later on, the hacker places a long-distance phone call and asks the operator (or a computer) to forward the charges. The operator calls the hacked phone number and gets the changed message, which tricks the phone company into thinking that the line's owner has agreed to accept the charges for a long-distance phone call.
In Steel's case, before she had a chance to change her phone message, the hackers had run up more than $20,000 in long-distance charges via AT&T, including 95 hours in overseas calls.
But what came next is even worse: Even though AT&T agreed Steel was the victim of fraud, it insists she is on the hook for much of the charges.
Posted by Justene Adamec at May 27, 2003 08:43 PM