It is not a crime unless you do more than explore.
The practice of 'phone phreaking' began in the the 1950's. A phone phreak is one who loves the phone system and would often use the system in illegal ways, hence, 'phone phreaking.'
Phishing is a portmanteau of "phreaking and fishing". "Phreaking", another kind of scam, is in turn a portmanteau of "phone" and "freaking".
Phreaking is a crime because phreakers are obtaining the services of a pay phone without paying for them. They are essentially stealing service from phone companies.
Phone phreaking, the exploration and manipulation of the telephone system, had a significant impact on both telecommunications and hacker culture. It exposed vulnerabilities in telecom infrastructure, leading to increased security measures and changes in technology. Additionally, it fostered a community of early hackers and innovators who later contributed to the development of computer networking and the internet. Ultimately, phone phreaking highlighted the need for greater regulation and oversight in communication systems.
"Phishing" as a term meaning to attempt to fraudulently obtain information over the Internet was first noted in 1996. The PH doesn't stand for anything, but the word may derive from a combination of "fishing"; from the idea of supplying a "baited" email and "phreaking". "Phreaking" was a combination of "phone" and "freak" and was the attempt to use tones to control the early long distance calls from the subscribers phone.
According to SOWPODS (the combination of Scrabble dictionaries used around the world) there are 3 words with the pattern -H-E-KI--. That is, nine letter words with 2nd letter H and 4th letter E and 6th letter K and 7th letter I. In alphabetical order, they are: phreaking shreeking shreiking
According to SOWPODS (the combination of Scrabble dictionaries used around the world) there are 3 words with the pattern P--EA--N-. That is, nine letter words with 1st letter P and 4th letter E and 5th letter A and 8th letter N. In alphabetical order, they are: pasearing phreaking poleaxing
According to SOWPODS (the combination of Scrabble dictionaries used around the world) there are 5 words with the pattern -HR--K-N-. That is, nine letter words with 2nd letter H and 3rd letter R and 6th letter K and 8th letter N. In alphabetical order, they are: phreaking shreeking shreiking shrieking shrinking
According to SOWPODS (the combination of Scrabble dictionaries used around the world) there are 21 words with the pattern P--E---N-. That is, nine letter words with 1st letter P and 4th letter E and 8th letter N. In alphabetical order, they are: paleocene paleogene panelling panettone panettoni parenting pasearing patenting peneplane penetrant peregrine peregrins phlegmons phreaking pigeoning pimentons pipestone pipetting poleaxing priesting pubescent
According to SOWPODS (the combination of Scrabble dictionaries used around the world) there are 25 words with the pattern -H-E---N-. That is, nine letter words with 2nd letter H and 4th letter E and 8th letter N. In alphabetical order, they are: cheekbone chiefling phlegmons phreaking rhoeadine shielding shlepping shoehorns shoeshine shredding shreeking shreiking threading threaping threatens threating threeping threonine threshing wheeching wheedling wheenging wheepling wheeshing wheezling
When I can I try to let you know about financial scams. We all work too hard for our money to have somebody come along and con us out of it. There’s a new scam in town, maybe you’ve heard of it. It’s called Smishing. (Smishing is a portmanteau comprised of phishing and SMS. Phishing, it should be noted is also a portmanteau of phreaking and fishing. And, yep, phreaking is a portmanteau also. Technology is killing language, but that’s a bit off topic isn’t it?)The way smishing works is you check your cell phone and find a text message letting you know that you’ve won something. A big tactic is to tell people they’ve won a Wal-Mart gift card. The catch is you just have to log onto a website they give you and fill in some personal information in order to claim your prize. The website is bogus, of course, and the personal information is used to steal your identity and if possible your money.So what should you receive one of these messages? First and foremost, do not follow the instructions in the message. However they instruct you to provide it, they’re after your personal information. Secondly, if you want to try to stop these criminals from spreading their felonious messages to unsuspecting innocents you can forward the message to 7726 (That spells SPAM on a phone keypad.). That number has been set up by the major cell phone carriers so that they can be alerted to and follow up on reports of spam via SMS messaging.If you’ve actually followed the instructions in one of these messages and disclosed your personal and financial information you will need to take immediate action to stop the criminals from destroying your credit, stealing your identity, and/or taking off with bags full of your cash. You should call the Federal Trade Commision at (877) 382-4357 – they should be able to get you started in fighting this crime. It wouldn’t be a bad idea to contact the three major credit bureaus also and alert them to the crime.
According to SOWPODS (the combination of Scrabble dictionaries used around the world) there are 84 words with the pattern --RE---N-. That is, nine letter words with 3rd letter R and 4th letter E and 8th letter N. In alphabetical order, they are: adreading agreement arreeding arrestant arresting aurelians aureoling bereaving careening careering caressing curetting directing egressing firebrand firestone foreanent foredoing forefront foregoing forelying foremeans foremeant forenoons foreplans forepoint foreshank foreskins forespend forespent forestine foresting forethink forewarns gorehound horehound koreroing merestone parenting peregrine peregrins phreaking rarefying rereading rerenting screaking screaming screeding screening screeting screeving shredding shreeking shreiking sirenians spreading spreazing spredding spreezing streaking streaming streeking streeling streeting stressing strewment suretying terebrant threading threaping threatens threating threeping threonine threshing unreasons unreaving unreeling unreeving unreining unresting uprearing vireonine virescent