We at Mavi had a rather unfortunate run-in with the malicious practice known as spoofing. Someone with no relation to our business had been receiving harassing, scam-related phone calls that showed up on her caller ID with our business number. However, no one from our company had been making calls. Our number was being falsely displayed through a practice known as spoofing.
In general, spoofing occurs when a person or program disguises itself as another person or entity by falsifying data. This can be done through almost any means of communication – mailers or emails, for example – but it’s harder to identify verbal spam through phone calls, especially when it’s a real person on the other end of the line conning you.
In California this October, a woman was found guilty of using such software to impersonate a FBI agent in order to intimidate and scare a client. Others are using this technology in an even worse manner: the grandfather or grandma scam. It’s a heinous practice that targets the elderly into thinking that their grandchild is in trouble and needs money to be wired to them. The calls are placed to those who are often hearing impaired and have trouble distinguishing friend from foe. One scammer even managed to get $20,000 from a deceived grandparent.
Scammers can purchase programs to falsify their caller ID for under $50. You don’t need to be a computer wizard either. Spoofing your Caller ID is as easy as browsing the internet for a host of sites that offer the service. One of them, SpoofCard, offers a free trial of their service. All you have to do is call into their hotline, dial an access code/PIN number, your victim’s number and your desired fake caller ID. There are also a number of mobile phone apps that can be used directly from your Smartphone.
Last December, a bill was passed that made it become illegal “to cause any caller identification service to knowingly transmit misleading or inaccurate caller identification information with the intent to defraud, cause harm, or wrongfully obtain anything of value….” Some use spoofing legitimately, such as doctors and police officers wanting to keep their private numbers untraceable, or large companies with multiple branches wanting to appear with the main company number.
Always be aware that seeing the caller ID is not a fail-safe protection against scam artists, so don’t be so quick to trust that you are really speaking with whatever pops up, especially if it’s your bank or other institution that would request your personal information, and anyone at all who requests you wire over funds. It’s also a good idea to keep a log of spoof calls you receive, and keep track of as much information as you can, such as the exact name and number, and who it was speaking to you. Then you can report it to the FTC either through their website FTC.gov or by calling 877-FTC-HELP.
