What You Need to Know about Phone Number Spoofing

You probably already know that unscrupulous telemarketers and scammers are always on the lookout for new ways to get people into answering their calls. With what modern tech offers, most phones carry with them the ability to screen calls, offering information regarding the caller when the phone rings.

But an increasingly common technique scam artists seem to be embracing now is to falsify or ‘Spoof’ their caller ID information. Caller ID spoofing is when the caller ID displays a phone number or other information to make it appear like the calls are from a different person or business.

Even though the caller’s information at times may seem local, the calls are often placed by telemarketers outside the country. Spoofing is mostly done with malicious or unscrupulous intentions by the caller and it has led many people to believe that you can no longer trust Caller ID.

It is worth noting that phone number spoofing has been used over and over again to scam sellers on websites like Craigslist. In these scams, a caller contacts the seller and claims to be calling from Canada with an interest in buying the advertised item. They then ask sellers for personal information, like a copy of their registration title before reposting the items for fake sale.

Phone number spoofing can also be put into practice when it comes to making vicious prank calls. For instance, an individual might call and arrange for a TV station to appear on a recipient’s caller display and engage them in a prank.

Now that you have an insight into how caller ID spoofing works, it is easy to wonder how to detect a spoofed call. With that in mind, there are a few red flags you can watch out for when you receive an incoming call.

In the event you can identify with the caller ID display name but not the associated phone number, it may be a spoofed call. In some instances, caller ID spoofing may be leveraged for robocalls. With these calls, you may be asked yes or no questions or simply asked to press a specific number for more instructions. Similar to any other unknown call you receive, it’s best to treat these as spam and hang up immediately.

If you notice any of these signs when handling an incoming call, always treat it as a spoofed phone call and ignore it.