Havana_-_Moon@cup.portal.com (11/21/89)
This article originally appeared in the 11/89 Edition of the
Umbra et Lux Newsletter. It appears here with the permission
of the author, Harry Helms.
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$500 REWARD FOR A WORKING REMOB -- THIS IS NO JOKE!!
REMOB is an acronym for 'remote observation.' Supposedly this
is a facility of certain telephone networks which allows instant
eavesdropping on any telephone in the system. To use a REMOB,
one reportedly calls the REMOB number, enters certain access
codes, and the number of the telephone one wishes to listen to.
One is then supposed to be able to listen to both sides of all
calls to and from the telephone being targeted.
Numerous qualifiers were used in the preceding paragraph because
there is no hard evidence that there is such a thing as REMOB.
With the advent of electronic switch signaling (ESS) in the US,
a REMOB is certainly within the realm of possibility. (Another
feature of ESS is the ability to track every digit dialed from
a phone - even calls to discontinued numbers or a single digit
dialed!) There are plenty of stories going around about 'some-
one' who knows 'someone' who 'knows' about a working REMOB or
two, but I've yet to see any firm evidence that any REMOBs are
in use now or even that REMOBs exist at all.
That's why I've decided to offer a $500 reward to anyone who
can furnish me with the number of a working REMOB and the
correct access codes. The conditions for this reward are that
I must be able to use the REMOB number and access codes to
listen in on my home telephone from a remote telephone. The
REMOB will be verified in a test where all parties making the
calls involved will be aware that they may be eavesdropped
upon and consent to the monitoring.
So if you know of anyone who claims they know someone who knows
something about REMOBs, tell them it's put up or shut up time.
$500 in nice cold cash awaits a real REMOB. And even if you
don't have a working REMOB handy, I'd appreciate hearing from
anyone who knows anything more about any purported REMOB.
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