[extropy-chat] codes in scam letters

[Terry W. Colvin]

Eugen Leitl wrote:

>On Mon, Sep 26, 2005 at 09:16:11PM -0400, David Lubkin wrote:
>  
>
>>Kevin Freels wrote:
>>    
>>
><snip>
>  
>
>>communicate will not draw attention. In the WW II model, signalling 
>>by the radio broadcast of a particular popular song is preferable to 
>>"the crows fly at dawn."
>>    
>>
>
>Number stations broadcast just fine with one-time pads.
> 
>  
>
>>Because encrypted traffic is relatively rare, it draws attention. 
>>    
>>
The following excerpt is from "The Numbers Game" by Martin Cannon,
The Anomalist:1 < http://www.anomalist.com >.

"My encounters with Number-Man call to mind the mysterious "number
readers" which afflict the shortwave band.  For many years, on various
frequencies, female and male announcers have broadcast four- and
five-digit numbers [voice "off-line" encryption] in several different
languages.  In his 1983 book *Big Secrets*, William Poundstone
speculated that these transmissions involve codes used by drug-runners,
or perhaps by the Cubans.  But a few years later, appearing on a local
tavloid-TV program called "Eye on L.A.," Poundstone revealed that
shortwave enthusiasts had triangulated the broadcasts to their most
probable origin point: The state of Virginia.

"Which pretty much gives the game away.

"In his book *Without Cloak or Dagger*, ex-spook Miles Copeland
reveals that clandestine shortwave messages sometimes take the form
of "screech" broadcasts: The information is sped up, making it
incomprehensible to outsiders.  One can retrieve the data only by
recording the message and replaying the tape slowly.

"Consider the loop line [telephone] as an espionage tool.  You can check
the telephone records of anyone calling the lines and you'll never learn
who his contact is.  A trace will turn up nothing.  Even the telephone
company will be forever mystified.  Loops are the last bastion of
telephone privacy, and would therefore prove enormously helpful to
an operative seeking secure communications."

Terry

<snip>


-- 
"Only a zit on the wart on the heinie of progress." Copyright 1992, Frank Rice


Terry W. Colvin, Sierra Vista, Arizona (USA) < fortean1 at mindspring.com >
     Alternate: < fortean1 at msn.com >
Home Page: < http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Stargate/8958/index.html >
Sites: * Fortean Times * Mystic's Haven * TLCB *
      U.S. Message Text Formatting (USMTF) Program
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veterans, Allies, CIA/NSA, and "steenkeen" contractors are welcome.]

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