Uncovering the Mystery: An Office Phone Sabotage Saga

In a bizarre turn of events that feels more like a scene from a thriller than an ordinary workday, my colleagues and I at a law firm have found ourselves grappling with an unusual and disconcerting situation: someone is hacking our office phones, and we suspect it’s an internal source. With our hopes for resolution dwindling and even telecommunications giant AT&T stymied, I’m turning to the broader community for insights and support.

The Situation at Hand

For an entire year, our office phones have been under siege, repeatedly forwarding calls to what seems to be a dubious dating service. Each day, we discover that lines are redirected multiple times. Today alone, we spent countless moments reverse-engineering the mess, dialing *73 or 73# to unforward the lines—and if that sounds tedious, it absolutely is.

Our communication system isn’t modern, to say the least. We rely on antiquated Comdial phones (now known as Zeracom) and have around six lines, with our primary number serving clients. When a call rolls over, the experience has morphed into something resembling a game of office Clue. The running mystery? Who could possibly be behind this chaos?

The Suspect

The core of our frustration lies in our belief that a particular coworker—let’s just say she’s not winning any goodwill here—is the culprit. She’s been with the firm for years, which means she possesses intricate knowledge of our phone systems and passwords. Consequently, this has elevated our concern that someone within the firm is actively sabotaging our operations.

Despite numerous assurances from AT&T and the phone system providers that external hacking is impossible, management remains skeptical, dismissing our claims as exaggerated. Their suggestion to change service providers feels misdirected; the actual issue seems far more insidious and personal.

Facing Challenges

The odds appear stacked against us: our office lacks caller ID, and the *69 function offers unreliable results. Additionally, our attempts to have AT&T remove the call-forwarding capability seem to have yielded no results. The odd strokes of fate continue to unfold, reinforcing the unnerving reality we face daily.

At this point, our energy is focused not on preventing the forwarding incidents but on identifying the perpetrator. Is this simply a cruel prank, or is there something deeper at play? The dynamics are further complicated by the fact that the suspected colleague has a history of crafting elaborate