Phone Losers Of America on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
The Phone Losers of America (PLA) is an internet
The PLA maintains an archive of answer machine messages in text-based format, which
Official Phone Losers of America Web Site
American comedy troupes Hacker groups Phreaking Prank calling 1994 establishments in the United States Internet properties established in 1994 Organizations established in 1994 Criminal investigation
prank call
A prank call (also known as a crank call, a hoax call, or a goof call) is a telephone call intended by the caller as a practical joke played on the person answering. It is often a type of nuisance call and can be illegal under certain circumsta ...
community founded in 1994 as a phone phreaking
Phreaking is a slang term coined to describe the activity of a culture of people who study, experiment with, or explore telecommunication systems, such as equipment and systems connected to public telephone networks. The term ''phreak'' is a sen ...
and hacking e-zine. Today the PLA hosts a prank call podcast called the ''Snow Plow Show'', which it has hosted since 2012.
History
The Phone Losers of America were founded by Brad Carter and Zak (el_jefe) in 1994, in an era when landlines were plentiful. Zak currently maintains a USA payphone directory. The PLA text files continued until mid-1997. In the early 2000s, with the introduction of companies offeringCaller ID Spoofing
Caller ID spoofing is a spoofing attack which causes the telephone network's Caller ID to indicate to the receiver of a call that the originator of the call is a station other than the true originating station. This can lead to a display showin ...
, groups such as the Phone Losers of America became notable in their utilisation of the service for prank calling, for example in the spoofing of law enforcement
Law enforcement is the activity of some members of the government or other social institutions who act in an organized manner to enforce the law by investigating, deterring, rehabilitating, or punishing people who violate the rules and norms gove ...
and corporate office numbers.
In August 2015, the Columbia Daily Tribune
The ''Columbia Daily Tribune'', commonly referred to as the ''Columbia Tribune'' or the ''Tribune'', is one of two daily newspapers in Columbia, Missouri, the other being the '' Columbia Missourian''. It is the only daily newspaper in Columbia wh ...
in Columbia, Missouri, featured the PLA in an article about a series of "strange calls" received by local residents who had signed a petition against a crosswalk construction project. The article quoted an FBI representative who allegedly told the ''Tribune'' that the calls to Columbia residents "would likely be prosecuted on the local level."
In early November 2016, Carter reported that the FBI performed an early-morning raid on his recording studio, resulting in a temporary seizure of all technical equipment. The raid was triggered by an attempt to access customer profiles at numerous retail stores across the country, primarily Safeway, of which some were utilized for prank phone calls. The case was treated as a federal matter, and was presided over by Judge Marco A. Hernandez of the Federal District Court of Oregon. On October 16, 2017, Judge Hernandez sentenced Carter to eight months of home detention
House arrest (also called home confinement, or nowadays Electronic tagging, electronic monitoring) is a legal measure where a person is required to remain at their residence under supervision, typically as an alternative to imprisonment. The p ...
, followed by five years of probation. Carter must pay $19,600 in restitution to Safeway as a consequence.
Activities
The PLA maintains an archive of answer machine messages in text-based format, which Motherboard
A motherboard, also called a mainboard, a system board, a logic board, and informally a mobo (see #Nomenclature, "Nomenclature" section), is the main printed circuit board (PCB) in general-purpose computers and other expandable systems. It ho ...
have described as being the "ringtones of their day".
See also
*References
{{reflistExternal links
Official Phone Losers of America Web Site
American comedy troupes Hacker groups Phreaking Prank calling 1994 establishments in the United States Internet properties established in 1994 Organizations established in 1994 Criminal investigation