Don't Fall for Spoofed Calls - Caller ID Scams
By Senior Spin Staff
Today I received still yet another recorded call from Heather at account services, offering lowered credit card rates and belligerently warning that this would be the final notice. But Heather keeps repeating the same message, sometimes several times a day. The company sending these messages does not seem to realize that I am on the national "Do Not Call Registry", making their unsolicited calls illegal.
A glance at caller ID displayed a Florida number and showed the call as originating in Chipley, a small city in the Florida panhandle. I attempted to call back to complain about the continuous solicitations, but surprisingly, the number was not in service. How did Heather manage to call from a disconnected telephone? She actually hadn't. The true phone number and identity of the company making these illegal calls was concealed using a technique called "caller ID spoofing."
Caller ID spoofing is the practice of faking the phone number displayed on Caller ID. Spoofers can cause any telephone number they choose to show up on your caller ID and the correct name or other listing information for that number also shows up. Internet technology has made this increasingly easy to accomplish, with Web sites springing up offering spoofing services that require no technical expertise and even disguise the caller's voice.
Scam artists use spoofed caller IDs to trick their victims into believing that they are legitimate businesses or charities - this is especially effective for numbers from trusted businesses or agencies that include identifying listing information. Having thus gained their victims' trust, they then swindle them into making "charitable donations" or trick them into giving out personal information.
Caller ID spoofing has become so widespread that a proposed bill now before the US Senate would ban caller ID manipulation for harmful or fraudulent purposes. In their report on the proposed "Truth in Caller ID Act," The House of Representatives detailed the case of a Michigan woman who received a phone call which, according to caller ID, appeared to be from a courthouse. The caller claimed that she had missed jury duty and demanded her social security number in order to "verify her identity."
There are reports of scam artists in various states using spoofed caller IDs to solicit money which they claimed was for local police-sponsored programs. Victims were tricked into donating because caller ID displayed the name of an actual police association.
Spoofers ignore the national “Do not Call Registry.” Because their real numbers and other caller ID information are concealed, they are difficult to trace, leaving them free to continue their scams. The Internet abounds with complaints about these violations, with numerous reports of repeat calls from Heather’s company. Many (including myself) have also filed complaints with the FTC, but the calls still keep coming
Those who have actually spoken with someone from “Heather’s” company report that it appears to be dedicated to stealing credit card information from those unwary enough to fall for the scam.
You can’t trust caller ID. Don’t fall for spoofed calls. Protect yourself by never giving out any personal information over the phone unless you initiated the call and you are certain that you are calling the correct number to a trusted business or institution.
March 31, 2008
