New York – Who’s on the Line? Increasingly, Caller ID Is Duped

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    New York – Plenty of people rely on a quick glance at their phone’s caller ID screen to decide whether a call is worth picking up. But as Matt Richtel reports in Wednesday’s Times, caller ID is not foolproof. Regulators in many states have been hearing increasing numbers of complaints about spoofing: the name on the screen looks innocuous or even alarming, like “F.B.I.,” but answering the call reveals a telemarketer on the other end.

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    The Truth in Caller ID Act, passed last year, makes it illegal to send inaccurate caller ID information “with the intent to defraud, cause harm or wrongfully obtain anything of value.” But technology, including Internet calling, has made it easier for callers to cloak themselves — and has made it harder to catch them.

    On DSL Reports, whose members like to chew on telecommunications issues, a discussion of the article has drawn a few comments from people who take this issue very seriously. One said he had filed more than 30 complaints with the Federal Communications Commission about spoofed IDs, but “nothing happens.” And a commenter using the name N9MD outlined his elaborate system for dealing with unwanted calls, using the blacklisting features offered by Internet calling services. He said he gets many calls from collection bureaus, even though “I don’t owe anything to anybody… except my second-grade teacher Mrs. Johnson who lent me a nickel for lunch in November of 1949.”


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    6 Comments
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    12 years ago

    they should come up with a way to stop it I worked in a company when people called in with spoofed ID and changed there voice from male to female to fallsly verfy orders that they can have fraud orders shipped to them

    12 years ago

    If one has Caller ID, he/she is under no obligation to pick up the telephone handset, until the party on the other end reveals himself/herself on the answering machine. For example, a Caller ID may say “Private”. If the calls continue, they can be screened out, using Call Screening/Selective Call Rejection.

    cynic
    cynic
    12 years ago

    If the folk at the FTC/FCC would actually do their job, it would be trivial to track down the more egregious [expletives deleted]. “Rachel of cardholder services” has been online for two years now. Presumably some people have fallen for the scam and paid “her”. Just track the bank payments and you’ve got them.
    Instead… it seems that these “investigators” are as dedicated to their job as their dozen counterparts at the SEC who “checked out” Madoff.

    Reb Yid
    Reb Yid
    12 years ago

    Maybe I’m “Reb Yid”, or maybe I’m not…

    No one even knows this law exists, let alone pays attention to it. Why don’t they just make spoofing illegal legamrei and get rid of the problem? That way they could just close down the whole operation.

    FmrBklynKid
    FmrBklynKid
    12 years ago

    And while they’re at it, why don’t don’t they stop all of the Mosdos from making those annoying recorded “robo” calls telling me about every raffle and sale under the sun – none of which I have any interest in? I especially will not support an organization that thinks nothing of pestering me at any hour of the day or night.