
         ͻ
          THE NON-TECHNICAL GUIDE TO FUN WITH MERIDIEN MAIL 
         ͼ

    
By: THESHADOW
    

	There are a lot of businesses currently using the Meridien
Mail system for their voice mail.  For those of you not familiar
with this system, it is the system that a lot of hotels use for
their guest mailboxes, and one that you will very likely
encounter whenever you call a bank, a law firm, an accounting 
firm, a securities brokerage, or any number of other large 
organizations with voice mail systems.

	For our purposes, there are only three main things you need
to know about Meridien Mail systems.  The rest you can learn as
you go along.

	First, many of the more powerful and influential people in 
a large corporation or firm are fairly senior, and have little or
no understanding of the electronic information revolution that
has overtaken our society in the last 20 or so years.  Many of
those that do understand this revolution just don't want to be
bothered with the details of the electronics, and leave this to
MIS people, secretaries or clerical workers who don't have the
kind of dedication and perseverance necessary to avoid security
breaches.

	Second, one of the advantages to a large business of the
Meridien Mail system is that it allows remote control of many of
the mailbox functions.    

	Third, upon setup, the default password for a Meridien Mail
mailbox is generally the same as the box number itself.  

	This "confluence of factors" creates a world full of hacking
and phreaking opportunities that many of you may have missed!  


                        MERIDIEN MAIL COMMANDS

	In order to fully realize the power of Meridien Mail
hacking, you have to first understand the possible world of
Meridien Mail commands.  


                          MESSAGE COMMANDS

	Once you have entered a Meridien Mailbox, the box will
*ALWAYS* contain a help menu to let you know what types of
commands you can enter from a remote location.  Usually, you can
get this menu simply by pressing the asterisk key.  You can also

usually get the extended message command menu by pressing 7 and
the asterisk key.  Once you are in, you can explore the help
menus to find out what your system offers without fear of getting
"nabbed."  Normally, by remote, you can play and record messages,
call any other mailbox in the system, delete messages, call the
sender of the message, or enter a reply to the message, along
with several batch reply/call commands.


                      MAILBOX CONTROL COMMANDS

	You will ordinarily have access to a whole host of other
mailbox control commands, usually beginning with the number 8. 
Usually, you can get a menu of available commands by pressing 8,
followed by the asterisk key.  Ordinarily, you will be able to
change the password on the mailbox and change the message given
when someone calls the mailbox. Sometimes, if you are lucky, you
will be able to forward all calls to the mailbox to a different
location outside the Meridien Mail exchange.


                   POSSIBILITIES FOR MERIDIEN MAIL

	So, now you know what it does.  What can you do with it? 
Well, let's start simply.  You can be destructive.  You can call
that accountant, lawyer, banker, or securities broker you hate,
and delete their important messages.  Do this enough, and you can
bet they'll lose a few of their clients.  Or you can call the
client back.  "Mr. Shithead asked me to call you and tell you
that he won't be able to make your meeting tomorrow...   I don't
know why, I'm just a clerk around here...  Look, Mr. Bigshot, I
get paid minimum, and I'm not going to take this kind of shit
from you.  Frankly, Mr. Shithead told me that he doesn't care
much for you, either, and now, after having spoken to you, I can
see why!!  Fuck me!!??  Fuck you!!!  You talking to me!!!???  You
talking to me!!!???"  Well, you know the routine.  Didn't want to
give me the loan, huh?  Gonna report me to the Feds, huh?  Take
that!  

	You can also call the system, find an unused extension,
and record the outgoing message of your choice.

	"Thank you for calling Bank of America customer
     service.  We will accept all collect long distance
     calls.  Please remain on the line, and a customer
     service representative will be with you shortly 
     [sounds of appropriate elevator music played via a 
     tape into the phone]."

Then send out a ton of form letters to folks all over the world:

 "You are pre-approved for a $25,000 loan at 2 percent.  Your
acceptance is guaranteed!! You can not be turned down for any
reason!!  Just call this number collect for details!!  Sincerely,
Greed E. Officer, Bank of America."

	Of course, when your victim company gets the bills for $350,000
in long distance bills for collect calls from Germany, South
America, and Uganda, you can bet that your access to the box will
be eliminated, and their security system tightened.  And don't forget
to erase your message before the phone bill comes, so there's no way
to find out exactly what has happened.

	You can use the system for revenge, but you lose the real
benefit to you of the system you've found.  You can find an unused extension,
record an outgoing message, and use the system as your voice mail.  Just think 
of the advantages of having your own, personal voice mail box, without any
ability to trace it back to you.  You immediately have a message repository 
for any type of information you want, accessible from pay phones all over the 
world with a simple numerical passcode and not traceable to any number 
connected to you.  What about other uses?

 	   "This is Phreak N. Hackering.  I'm out right now, but
         if you leave your name and number at the tone, I'll get
         back to you as soon as I can."

	What's that, you say?  Sounds like an easy way to get voice 
validation for your favorite lame BBS?  A confirmation number for a 
credit card order?  The possibilities are endless, and limited only 
by your imagination.

	I don't think I need to go into the benefits of the rare
system that provides remote access to call forwarding.  If you
really want details, download a file on the Phuck Box, or
something similar.  And don't forget the benefits for callback
data verification on BBSes (forward the number to your phone for
that one call, then cancel the forwarding), forwarding the mailbox
to a long-distance number (That's right! Another way to get free
long distance service from a pay phone) or forwarding the
number to Prodigy, Compuserve, America Online, or some other
online service for temporary non-traceable access to those services.


                   FINDING A MERIDIEN MAIL SYSTEM

	"Get me one of those," you say.  Ok, so now you know what
you can do with it.  How do you find one?  Simple.  Start with
the Yellow Pages.  Look at banks, law firms, accounting firms,
securities firms in your area.  Go with the really big ones, as
those are the companies that are most likely to have a voice mail
system and some unused extensions. 

	The most likely candidates are companies whose phone numbers
end in "00."  Like 458-1000.  Or find a large hotel, and ask if
they provide a voice mail system for their guests.  If they do,
you've got a prospect.  

	When you find a company with the main number ending in 00,
or a hotel that provides voice mail, you can dial incrementally
until you hear a synthesized voice say "Meridien Mail.  Mailbox?" 
When you do, you have reached the system.  If you want to play
the odds, the chances are that the Meridien Mail number will end
in 00, as well.  So you could try 458-1100, 458-1200, and so on. 
If you don't get anything, you can go back and try 458-1110, 458-1120, 
etc., and then try the numbers in between if that doesn't work.

	If your motive is revenge, start with the direct dial office number 
of your victim.  The find the main office number for his/her company, and 
start dialing extensions above his or hers.  Again, to play the odds, use 
numbers that end in "00".  For example, if your victim's direct dial
number is 357-2387, and the company's main number is 357-2300, start with
357-2400, 357-2500, etc.  Then, if you don't get the number that way, go 
back and try 357-2390, 357-2410, etc.  You'll find it eventually.

	Once you get the system, you can try all of the extensions
between the main number and the Meridien Mail number, using the
box number as the password.  Chances are, you'll get quite a few
that work.  When you get into the mailbox, listen to hear if
there are any messages in the box.  If not, listen to the
outgoing message.  If it is something generic, like, "the person
at extension 1123 is not available...," you've probably found an
unused extension.  This could be a visitor's office, an empty
guest room, a conference room, or simply an unused line.  Who
cares?  It's yours now.  Record an outgoing message, change the
password, and you now have your own voice mail to do as you
please.

	Generally, the routine will go something like this:

SYSTEM: "Meridien Mail.  Mailbox?"

You dial 1111

SYSTEM: "Password?"

You dial 1111

SYSTEM: Either: "You have no new messages."  (You're in!)
        Or: "You have entered an incorrect number.  Mailbox?"

You dial 1112

SYSTEM: "Password?"

You dial 1112

SYSTEM: Either: "You have no new messages."  (You're in!)
        Or: "You have entered an incorrect number.  Mailbox?"


And so on.  Some of the more sophisticated systems have a rudimentary
security--if you dial an incorrect mailbox or password a certain number 
of times, it will hang up on you, and may record the attempt on a
printout for the system administrator.  Thus, I would recommend not dialing
the numbers sequentially, and not calling back immediately after the
system hangs up on you.  Every large company will have its employees
forgetting their passwords or misdialing their numbers occasionally, so
it is unlikely the administrator will notice anything unusual, unless
she sees a series of sequential numbers with bad passwords.  In other
words, don't be a stupid fuck!  Be discreet! 

	Ok, now you have a new trick for your H/P repertoire.  It's 
worked well for me over the past couple of years.  Feel free to use 
it.  The only thing I ask is, DON'T FUCK IT UP!!!!  Don't make $100,000
in long distance calls in a month.  Don't call 1-900 sex lines.  Use your 
new found knowledge sparingly, or you can bet that the holes in Meridien
Mail security will close up quicker than a wareZ BBS operating from 
SPA headquarters.  Use the knowledge judiciously, and you will
continue to have a useful resource for many years to come.















                         *DISCLAIMER*

This article is intended for entertainment and informational 
purposes only, and does not advocate the use of any of the above
tactics in an illegal manner.  Research for this article comes 
from many years of experience, trial and error with Meridien Mail 
systems.  No additional references were used.