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When Antivirus Scammers Call the Wrong Guy
ancientribe writes "Phony AV scammers posing as Microsoft dialed the wrong number when they inadvertently phoned a security researcher at home. He lured them into a honeypot to study their actions, and posted the video online here. His main takeaway: they were 'Stone Age' when it came to their tech know-how."
Well... There used to be a slight delay (like 10 seconds) between the "on hook" (current stops flowing in the loop) and the processing of the "on Hook" condition by the switch. This was to avoid disconnecting calls for momentary current breaks such as when you where dialing a rotary phone or if the user was doing a hook "flash" to switch between parties in a 3-way call. In some cases this delay has been emulated by recent phone system designs for compatibility reasons or simply because that's the way things used to work and the spec still calls for it. These days, I don't think there are many land line phones doing rotary dial and processing flash hook signals, at least in the industrialized world.
This feature was what caused the "Telemarketers have total control of my phone when they call and I can't hang up on them!" rumor from yesteryear. I'm betting that this was the reason you couldn't hang up on them. Next time hang up and wait about 20 seconds and I'll bet you will get a dial tone when you pick up.
"File to fit, pound to insert, paint to match" - Aircraft Maintenance 101
So they're exactly like Norton, McAfee, and CA?
How did this get modded 'Funny?' That shit ain't funny, it's fucking Insightful.
How did this get modded 'Insightful'?
The GP was insightful. This shit ain't insightful, it's fucking Funny.
[Hint: to break the chain, mod this 'Informative'.]
War as we knew it was obsolete
Nothing could beat complete denial
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Um. No. My phone works just fine. I also disconnected the line which should have terminated the call immediate, but the scammer was still talking when I reconnected the line. (I figure they were using some override built into the POTS.)
Such a feature doesn't exist in DMS-100 (unless an engineer is doing a dialtone plunge, but that's not a DMS feature, that's an actual set or test head connected to the line keeping it open). More likely, you have a marginal short on your line, and when you "hung up", the short was low enough at the time to trick the DMS into thinking that there was still a phone of the hook, so it didn't close the line. Depending on the amount of T-R leak that's happening, you may never notice it when you're using the phone, but it could still be enough to trick the DMS into thinking your phone's off the hook.
Of course, in a situation like that, chances are you'd have no dial tone at all, because the DMS would self-disconnect from the line to avoid being damaged, and they wouldn't have been able to ring your line at all, as it would sound busy (or forward to voicemail if you have that line option) with the DMS in PLO state. I suppose if it's a swinging short it could work the way you're describing, but the chances are slim enough that it's equally possible you're just making it up. I'd have to see a 12-point metallic test to know for sure what the problem is with your line, but assuming you're telling the truth, my money's on a swinging tip-ring short.
I guess, maybe, if you're on FTTH and the ONT is bugged out (or you have a problem with your inside wiring), it could behave like that, too. Usually with FTTH I don't see anywhere near the kind of weird shit that I see on copperline, though.
The other possibility is as folks have suggested, 3-way calling. If you hang up and pick up shortly afterwards, it's the same effect as pressing the "flash" or "link" button on your phone, and the DMS will put the first call on hold to allow you to dial a 2nd number. If it triggered when you hung up, it would suggest a defective phone.
Obligatory disclaimer: I do work for the local phone company, and one of my many job functions has been troubleshooting/diagnosing this kind of weird behaviour in order to determine if a field tech visit is needed. I have seen the problem you're describing before, but usually it's followed by a loss of dialtone within an hour after the fact.