So recently I was laid off from AT&T's shitty little tech support job. A good chuck of my day involved old people who didn't understand why their 1990's Magnavox could not get high-definition, people who did nothing but call me an idiot because I couldn't see what their computer was doing to fix their wireless issue, and then people bitching that the remote is not a fun tool. The other chunk of the day were people running router behind router equipment who did not understand why they could not connect, firewall behind firewall and crazy old men who would fuck up their PPPoE settings or be connected directly to their job via VPN and not understand why they aren't allowed to look at porn on the company laptops.
Regardless, I had been fired due to not being up to their standards of tech support and not reading the scripts they give us verbatim. God forbid you troubleshoot a Linux connection; Linux is not supported by AT&T (because, fuck, y'know they only invented Unix) and if you helped someone who was in a jam with a Linux OS you were written up for it or yelled at for going out of your scope of support.
Now in my retirement I decided to give an insider view of how to get information from these people to access voice mail or have them change SSIDs or WEP keys; it's all super simple and easy to do due to the system they setup for their retarded customers. As always, this information is for educational purposes and any havoc wrought from this information is on your shoulders and your shoulders only.
First off is the telephone number to get in contact with an AT&T U-verse representative: 1-800-288-2020.
This number takes you directly to Tier 1 support. The main difference between Tier 1 and Tier 2 are paychecks and Tier 2 can gain instant remote access to your system from their end to fix your problems. However the U-Verse people have NO influence over the regular POTs or land lines that is offered by the other sectors of AT&T. U-Verse only deals with VOIP lines when it comes to communication. Also do not be afraid of the managers. The "higher ups" are nine times out of ten regular joe-blow paid a dollar or two more who are just seasoned techs that essentially blow you in order to make you happy or make you feel like you're talking to someone important.
You're not. Most of the manager requests you get are regular chumps.
Second off is how to begin the question process and it's basic items you need to know. You either need to know their telephone number they used to sign up with the account, which can some times be a cellphone number assigned to the account. The VOIP line on a customer can mostly be used to gain access to the account. Another way in is the first and last name plus the zip code.
When you get to the tech support people there are two questions to verify who you are: A 4 digit keycode assigned by the customer themselves at the time of installation or a security question ranging from who your favorite actor is or what your favorite food is.
Suppose you want to change the PIN on someone's VOIP or your own VOIP, by asking that information they want to know either of the security questions. You have three tries on each question before they deny you all together. However, very far and few between are people who will deny you total service after you failed all six times. At that point most of the techs will just ask if they can call you back at the house number and if you answer that's verification enough.
The very same verification is guided when you want to add or remove products, reset the parental lock on TV's, or change the email passwords. Keep in mind however, they won't supply you with any telephone numbers or any numbers associated with the account at all. That's per FCC supposedly.
On a plus side, there are MANY people who actually call in (I think I've had around 25-30 of those calls) where they have not set up a 4 digit passcode yet and then will ask you to affirm who you are by address and allow you to assign a passcode that way and setup the favorite question as well. On a good note, it's a pain in the ass for the actual person to convince AT&T that they are really that paying customer; so it's more hassle for the person you do not like.
What they can do as stated before is enter your gateway (modem, wireless ethernet, etc) and change the SSID or password for that system. When you reset the password on an email, you have to log in at
https://uverse1.att.com/un/launchAMSS.do and then it will ask you to change your password to something else as it's just a one time use password. In there you can also alter any other information you would like. Access everything on the account, set their DVR to record porn and so forth.
Now there are three levels of techs at any given place: Seasoned, Experienced, Novice.
More often then not due to the high turn-over rate you'll usually get any where between Experienced and Novice taking care of you. The novices have NO access to the VOIP what-so-ever. They're only allowed to take care of television and internet issues. Though they are only available to take care of those issues, once they take care of the main email it will give you access to everything else.
Seasoned people tend to be more prick like. A lot of them think they have the world's greatest job and that they walk on water, can fix anything and everything, and by a general rule of thumb, really have no qualms about ditching you off after several guessing games have been issued. Your Experienced and Novice crowd are what you want to hope to gain access at.
To better raise your chances of getting a Novice, in the automated selection system, choose T.V. and Internet connection issues. More often than not you'll get a Novice and they are so much more easier to bend and break the rules with because they don't realize they're doing either or an Experienced person will tell them to just go through with the request regardless.
Now for some answers on the questions.
I've found that a portion of people's favorite restaurants tend to be McDonald's or Olive Garden, some local restaurant or Apple Bees. The lesser portion of of places like that tend to be Rudy's or Burger King. It's very simple to guess those.
They also ask of favorite colors as well. These are mind numbingly easy to get at. Most people choose Red, Blue, Green or Pink. I've never seen a black or orange or yellow. Those four are the basic colors that everyone picks and therefore tend to be the easiest to guess at.
Childhood hero is another one. Superman and Jesus. These two are your best bets when being asked this question. If you're dealing with a total prick of sorts you may get someone who says Myself or Money. Those are far and few between, however. Very rarely is there another hero besides those two. Other times it's either their mom or dad or possibly their brother.
Beyond those I have yet to see any other of the favorites arrive. I believe there are four others, such as what is your first pet's name, or something along those lines of maiden names of your mother as well.
When you gain access, you can ask them which emails are listed and which one is the main one so you can reset the password for that and then figure out how it's spelled and which domain it's at. Some times it's sbc.net, att.net, bellsouth.net.
As stated before, once you gain access to the email, you gain access to EVERYTHING. Gaining access to the router it self is as easy as any other router access. Just type in your I.P. address and you get in. You can assign it to which MAC addresses are allowed at any given point in time and any of the usual fun stuff. Best part is if someone calls in about this you can guarantee none of the techs will know how to undo it. Fact is they're not trained at all to undo it.
I hope this helps you out in any revenging or angering you plan on doing to anyone within the U-verse system.
Fuck you, AT&T. Bunch of ungodly pricks.
