I used to chat with Bill Acker years ago; he used wacker for his nickname.
I flirted with phreaking a bit, but decided it was not right for me.
It was fun though. 

I knew one crazy phreaker who charged hundrds of toll calls at his place of employment.
The head of semurity there tracked him down, and demanded sternly why he did it.
Dale told me, "I had to say something, so I said my ham rig was broken and I was bored."
Security guy thought a while and said, "Dale, how much would it cost to fix that radio?"