Many people don't know telephone codes, i.e. certain key combinations on the telephone or cell phone that trigger functions. That's probably one reason why this hoax has been floating around on the Internet for so long.
Before you ask yourself any further what a garden hag is, we present to you the text that is still circulating on Facebook, as a request in our community showed us:
Warning!!!
I've never heard anything like that! Please be sure to pass it on, thank you
IMPORTANT, BE CAREFUL!!! IMPORTANT INFORMATION !
... Yesterday evening I received a telephone call from an individual who
identified himself as a Telecom employee who
was conducting an experiment on the telephone lines.
He mentioned that to complete everything I had to press nine (9), then zero (0), then garden hag (#), then hang up.Luckily I was suspicious and hung up.
I contacted Telecom, who informed me that with the keys (9 0 and #), I
was allowing the other person to use my telephone line for long-distance calls, which would then be charged to me!
I have also been informed that this scam originates from several prisons.So, NEVER press key 9.0 and # for another person!
The Telecom security service asks me to
pass this information on to all my friends and acquaintances.After checking with Telecom, they confirmed to me that this was true.
Please forward!
For those in a hurry:
This is a rumor that is at least 20 years old, a hoax that is not technically possible and has never worked.
"Yesterday"
What we love about chain postings like this is the timing.
Yesterday. A relative time specification that always keeps a text current. Because today was yesterday yesterday, while tomorrow today is already yesterday. Sure so far? But if we take a closer look at the text, we can already guess how old the text actually is.
Telecom, telephone lines, stop and the garden shed
- Telecom – They still exist. In Germany it is called Telekom, maybe just a typo?
- Telephone lines – Did they ever call it that in German? Sounds like a literal translation of une ligne téléphonique
- Stroke – This sounds more like a typewriter (“How many strokes can you do per minute?”), old term for pressing a telephone button
- Gartenhag – This refers to the hashtag (#) that is commonly used today. Gartenhag is an old word for “garden fence”, which is also what the hashtag is called in Switzerland
As you can see, the text doesn't seem to be entirely up to date, and it appears to have only been roughly translated.
A journey through time
already in 2011 , but it goes back even further. Here is the text from the pre-Facebook era via email, France 2003 :
AVIS IMPORTANTLA BLR (Brigade Locale de Recherches) of our zone of police, demand of your informer of this suit: At this moment, a band of malfrats of your appeals on your GSM and it is able to pass to un employé of your provider GSM. Il vous demande, pendant la conversation, d'appuyer sur les touches 09# ou #09. NE LE FAITES SURTOUT PAS ET COUPEZ IMMEDIATEMENT LA COMMUNICATION This bande dispose d'un appareillage capable de lire, via ce code, votre numéro de carde SIM et d'en fabriquer une new avec votrenuméro. Par ce moyen, ils peuvent frauder à grande échelle et à vos propresfrais. A second method of applying the same signal consists of sending a notification on your GSM, you are invited to compose the number: (014)145.51.14. NE LE FAITES PAS NON PLUS car si vous le faites, celui qui vous a envoyé l'avis pourra téléphoner sur votre compte. These two forms of fraud are officially reported by KPN, VODAFONE, MOBISTAR and PROXIMUS. Attention!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This fraude sévit à grandeéchelle. Diffuse this also means that it is possible.
Or even older, from the year 2000:
If you receive a message on your cell phone telling you to call 0141 455414, do not respond under any circumstances.
Otherwise your bill will increase immeasurably.This information was issued by the Office Central de Repression du Banditisme.
For some time now, fraudsters have found a way to fraudulently use your cell phone: they call you on your
cell phone and pretend to be your provider.
They then ask them to enter a PIN number, either 09 or 90, explaining that this is
to verify correct operation.Under no circumstances should you enter this secret number and hang up immediately!
With this PIN, fraudsters have the opportunity to read the number of your SIM card, which can then be used to create a new card.
Aaaand even older, 1999:
TODAY WE RECEIVED THE FOLLOWING IMMEDIATE INFORMATION TO ALL EMPLOYEES WHO USE A MOBILE TELEPHONE (CELL PHONE).
RECEIVE A CALL ON YOUR CELL PHONE FROM AN “ESAT” OR “ERICELL” TECHNICIAN INFORMING YOU THAT HE WANTS TO PERFORM A CHECK ON YOUR CELL PHONE AND REQUESTING YOU TO PRESS <9090>;
…THEN PLEASE END THIS CONVERSATION IMMEDIATELY!!! THERE IS A SCAMMER COMPANY THAT HAS FOUND AN OPPORTUNITY; ONCE YOU HAVE PRESSED <9090> TO GET ACCESS TO YOUR CHIP TO MAKE CALLS AT YOUR EXPENSE!!! PLEASE TELL ALL EMPLOYEES AND PEOPLE YOU KNOW WHO ALSO HAVE A CELL PHONE (CELL PHONE).
One more thing is going on: the so-called Swisscom hoax 1998:
Telephone scam: Someone calls you and pretends to be an employee of Bell, Sprint, AT&T, or another telecommunications company. He tells you that he wants to test the line and that you should let him get on your line with 90# and then hang up. Do not do this under any circumstances!!!!!!!!!!!! If you do this, you give this person access to your line, which means he can call wherever he wants (including abroad) at your expense. A Swisscom employee checked the information and tried using the name of the company Sprint. The problem is real and has been confirmed. I ask you to pass this information on to all your friends and acquaintances.
Did that ever work?
No . Not today, not “yesterday”, and not 20 years ago. There is not a single confirmed case or any warning about it from any authority or telecommunications company. This is also not technically possible, as all telecommunications companies use different technologies, so there was and is no standard code for such a method, which never existed.
Why did this hoax arise?
Push-button telephones have been around since 1976 , but their spread has been very slow.
Many children of the 80s still remember the rotary dial telephones from back then. With the spread of the Internet and cell phones in the mid-90s, uncertainty about technology also grew.
Telephone technicians could be seen entering certain key combinations on the telephone, for example to check how good the line is. Then as now, these technicians used special equipment to do this, but it was rumored that this could also be done by anyone using simple key combinations. At some point, these and similar rumors arose, which, thanks to the Internet, often spread like wildfire via email... and have not died out to this day.
Conclusion
This is a rumor that is at least 20 years old, a hoax that is not technically possible and has never worked.
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