More Hacker Paranoia
From the San Francisco Chronicle
Wednesday, March 13, 1991

$55 Beeper Calls - Hacker Jailed

New York
     A New York computer hacker was arrested yesterday and accused of
operating a scam in which he duped people with beepers into calling a $55-per-
call phone service he set up, according to New York State Police.
     The U.S. Secret Service, working with the state police, arrested Michael
Brown in an apartment he shares with his grandmother and charged him with
federal wire fraud.
     State Police said Brown, 23, used a computer in his home to generate
thousands of calls to pagers in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.  When
the unsuspecting victim returned the call, which had a 540 exchange, the caller
heard a 20-second message about VISA and Mastercard and was billed $55.
     According to a Secret Service spokesman, Special Agent James Kaiser,
Brown was able to generate 8,000 calls during a 48-hour period last month.
     "The message the callers heard didn't have a disclaimer, saying they
would be charged for the call, until they had already incurred the $55 fee,"
Kaiser said.  "The caller would be charged on his regular phone bill, and Brown
would be paid in a lump sum from the telephone company."
     When Brown was arrested yesterday, Secret Service agents found two
computers in his apartment, one which randomly generated and dialed 10-digit
beeper numbers, and the other which receives the calls.


Transcribed by Count Zero Interrupt
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