Phone Wiretap

Old imported methods from Insurgency Wiki for old phones.

This one is more dangerous (read: record into tape recorder, not computer, or enjoy ur fried sound card), but is piss easy and gives good sound quality.

Caution: Phone lines typically run at 6 volts DC when off hook. Sound cards like 5 volts so this more or less works. But you've got to unplug it before hanging up! Why? When hung up, phone lines bounce up to 48 volts DC, which your sound card is not going to like. Worse, when the phone rings, about 70 volts AC will come slamming into your sound card, and that's pretty much the game, folks. This will blow your sound card and very probably your motherboard right to the moon.

There are a variety of circuits to tap phones that protect your computer all over the Net. But its easier to just walk into Radio Shack, tell them you want to make a recording of your phone calls on your computer, and let them set you up.

Note it's against the law to record unless you generate an audible “beep” every 15 seconds. State laws may vary.

This tutorial is basically a re-write of a previous tutorial on wiretapping. this tutorial is aimed at people who want to monitor/record phone conversations, but are too lazy to read a complicated diagram. Keeping this in mind, this method is not exactly *good* for the phone line, phones, tape recorder, etc. The pros and cons are listed below.

• Easy to make
• Requires next-to-no technical knowlage
• Made quickly
• Cheap

• Not good for phone/phone line
• Lowers phone volume on all ends
• ILLEGAL AS HELL

Now, let's begin! First, let's gather the ingredients…

• 1x Tape recorder
• 1x Blank tape
• 1x Phone line
• 1x Headphone cable
• 1x Wirestippers/pocket knife/etc
• 1x Roll electrical tape
• 1x Scissors

Once you get these, it is time to begin.

First off, cut the headphones off of the headphone cable, so that the end you plug into the cd player/computer is left attached to the cable.

+----------------Headphone Cable------------------+
|                                                 |
|-|=|===||+++++++++++++++++++++|| <-- cut off here|
|                                                 |
+-------------------------------------------------+

Second, Cut one of the phone jack off of the phone cable.

+------------------Phone Cable--------------------+
|                                                 |
|-|=|===||+++++++++++++++++++++|| <-- cut off here|
|                                                 |
+-------------------------------------------------+

After this, strip about 5 inches of the phone cord from the end that does not have a phone jack. Thenstrip about 5 inches from the headphone cable (not the end with the headphone jack).

+----------------Phone/Headphone------------------+
| -------------------------------+====RED====     |
| end with jack                  |                |
| -------------------------------+===GREEN===     |
|                                                 |
| -------------------------------+====RED====     |
| end with jack                  |===WHITE===     |
| -------------------------------+===GREEN===     |
|                                                 |
+-------------------------------------------------+

A 'ditto box' is a way of building a DIY mute button into a land-line phone.

I'm sure that many of you have wanted at one time or another to eavesdrop on someone, but have discovered it hard to keep quiet or keep the mute button down the entire time. Well, with some basic tools you can make your own 'mute' button, which is far easier to operate (i.e. no holding a button down).

To do this, you need the following:

• Phone (get a two piece one made of plastic)
• 1“ Screw (One that is a good electric conductor, no coatings)
• Electrical Tape
• Screw driver
• Soldering Iron or auto-drill (to make holes in phone)
• Insulated Alligator clips (at least 4” long)

NOTE: This box is ugly as hell, and so if you're living in your parents house, don't do it to the good phone ;)

Now then, once you get the materials, it's time to begin. First, take the screws out of the phone so you can open it. If you can't find a screw, check under stickers and table pads. If all else fails, use a knife to open the phone with brute force, trying your best not to break anything.

Next, locate the microphone. There should be two wires leading from it; red and black. Cut the red wire in half and strip both ends.

╔═══════════════════════════════════════╗
║  ===--.Diagram of face of phone.--=== ║
╠═══════════════════════════════════════╣
║   _________________________________   ║
║  /                             /   \  ║
║ /   ___     red wire          / ear \ ║
║ .| ()---\__/ /_______        | piece |║
║ \      \______________        \     / ║
║  \_____________________________\___/  ║
╚═══════════════════════════════════════╝

After this, wrap one of the exposed ends of the wire around the pointed end of the screw, and cover the entire exposed end, along with where it touches the screw, in electrical tape, all the way up to about 2 mm before the fat part of the screw. This is important, as it won't work properly if the two ends of the wire you cut touch.

Now, on the other end of the wire you cut, wrap the exposed section around one end of the alligator clip, and cover that exposed end, and where it meets the alligator clip in electrical tape. Again, this is important.

After that, heat up the soldering iron. When it is hot, make a hole in the phone in such a place and size that you can snugly fit the screw, and pull out one end of the alligator clip so that it dangles 1-2 inches below the screw.

╔══════════════════════════════════════╗
║=-.Diagram of hole in side of phone.-=║
╠══════════════════════════════════════╣
║  __                          ______  ║
║ /__\                        /|____|\ ║
║|/  \|______________________|/______\|║
║|                __                  |║
║|---------------(__)-----------------|║
║|_______________|_||_________________|║
║                | || screw            ║
║                | ++                  ║
║                |                     ║
║                ^ alligator clip      ║
║               / \                    ║
╚══════════════════════════════════════╝

Now, use some electrical tape to secure the screw in place, so it doesn't fall back inside the phone or out of the phone. Put the screws back in the phone and voila! You've made a ditto box.

Now, to test it out. Plug the phone into the wall and make sure you get a dial tone. If you don't, then you need to make sure all points except the dangling end of the alligator clip and the fat end of the screw are COMPLETELY covered in electrical tape, and that you didn't solder the circuit board accidentally.

To use it, just wait until someone picks up the phone, then pick up the ditto box phone. When the alligator clip isn't clasped on or touching the screw, no noise is transmitted through the phone. To talk, just clamp the alligator clip on.

╔══════════════════════════════════════╗
║    =====----...Muted...----=====     ║
╠══════════════════════════════════════╣
║  __                          ______  ║
║ /__\                        /|____|\ ║
║|/  \|______________________|/______\|║
║|                __                  |║
║|---------------(__)-----------------|║
║|_______________|_||_________________|║
║                | ||                  ║
║                | ++                  ║
║                |                     ║
║                ^                     ║
║               / \                    ║
╚══════════════════════════════════════╝

╔══════════════════════════════════════╗
║  =====----...Un-muted...----======   ║
╠══════════════════════════════════════╣
║  __                          ______  ║
║ /__\                        /|____|\ ║
║|/  \|______________________|/______\|║
║|                __                  |║
║|---------------(__)-----------------|║
║|._______________|_||_________________|║
║                | /|                  ║
║                --++                  ║
║                  \                   ║
║                                      ║
║                                      ║
╚══════════════════════════════════════╝

Additional, optional steps:

Neon box add-on
Beige box add-on