Know Who it is on Your Caller ID? Think Again: Spoofing

[RedHot25]

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNew...624?hub=Canada

An increasingly common scam called "spoofing" allows con artists to change their caller ID to anything they choose: a bank, a credit card company, or possibly even a government agency.

......

American lawmakers are already trying to ban fake call ID numbers. Currently, only the criminal use of the technology is illegal, rather than the technology itself.

Some devices even let con artists change the pitch and tone of their voice.

....

There are hundreds of spoofing companies operating legally online, including the Vancouver-based SpoofTel, which markets itself as "The World's Leader in Caller ID Spoofing."

[Reaper]

Anyone who gives out their personal information to an outside party that initiates the call is pretty stupid. When I say pretty stupid I mean that they are of the ilk that falls for the "Wallet Inspector" deal.

[J pold]

Yikes!

That is some pretty scary stuff…I live by my caller ID

The thought that it could be a fake has never even crossed my mind!

[arsenal]

I remember there was a company in the states that was doing this. The reasoning behind it was it would allow collection agents, etc, to get in touch with people who have not paid their bills. Since the majority of the time, when a collection agent calls someone who hasn't paid their bills, it will show up as [unknown] on person's caller id, and therefore allow the person to ignore that call.
By spoofing the caller id, it would show up as something else, and hopefully trick the person into picking up the phone.

As with every type of technology, people wille exploit it for their own gain.

[GreenTeaFrapp]

I wonder who's using this technology on Kevin Lowe to pretend they're an NHL GM that's actually interested in making a trade with him?

[nfotiu]

I used one of these once. It was very easy. Just call an 800 number first, and enter a pin, just like a calling card call.

My wife was out of town on an interview and had to call her manager, and make it look like she was in town. Worked great.

[Bean]

I might be way off base on this but I'm told that you can have any name show up on your caller id. So if your name is Joe Davis, you can actually request that the caller ID has some totally different name. <At least that is what somebody I know has done>