Phone spoofing is a technology used to make any number appear on your caller ID. Scammers utilize this technology to deliberately transmit false caller information to your caller ID display to impersonate businesses, government agencies, banks, or even your own number. Spoofing is often done with malicious intent, such as stealing money or obtaining sensitive information from a target.
Phone spoofing has become even more appealing to scammers with the burgeoning adoption of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) allowing con artists to make spoofed calls to thousands of targets at low costs and with minimal human effort. During software or application configuration, many VoIP providers allow users to input the phone number and name to appear on the receiver's caller ID display.
Although phone spoofing sometimes finds use in legitimate purposes, the United States prohibits caller ID spoofing when used to harass, defraud, or wrongfully obtain information or valuables. Phone spoofing may be useful when law enforcement officers have to disguise their caller ID to contact a suspect, or when a doctor makes work calls from home.
Some of the common phone spoofing crimes in Maine are listed below.
Impersonation Scams
Impersonation scams are one of the most prevalent forms of phone spoofing crimes. The scammer falsifies the caller ID information to imitate a recognized caller ID, such as the local police, bank, utility provider, or tech company. The belief is that you are more likely to answer a call that originates from a familiar source or a reputable business. One popular form of impersonation scam in Maine is the IRS scam where your caller ID displays information from the IRS, which increases the chances that you will answer the call and believe what the caller says.
Harassment and Intimidation
Spoofing phone numbers is a common practice among stalkers and bullies who make it appear to the caller ID system that the call is originating from a different number in order to harass or intimidate targets. Although phone spoofing may be used to play harmless pranks on targets, it can be dangerous and more malicious at other times, such as in situations where the caller issues death threats. Some ill-intentioned persons may use phone spoofing technology to bully a target into vacating a position of authority.
Telemarketing Scams
Fraudulent telemarketers use phone spoofing technology to spoof their caller ID information with misleading information to look legitimate and earn trust. These telemarketers usually combine this technology with robocall technology. Robocall technology employs the use of an automated dialing-announcing device (ADHD) to deliver prerecorded messages on automated calls. Robocalls invite the call recipients to take an online survey or press a number to speak with a live agent. The survey is designed to trick the target into giving away sensitive information that will be used by the scammer in thefts. Where robocalls are not used, the fraudulent telemarketer tries to woo the target into buying a phony product or service or invest in some bogus schemes with the promise of huge ROIs.
How Do You Know If Your Number Is Being Spoofed?
If someone has spoofed your phone number, then any responses to the initial spoofed communication will be returned to you. Therefore, if you are receiving phone calls or text messages to a conversation or communication that you did not start, or your phone number gets bombarded with calls from numbers you do not recognize, it is quite likely you are being spoofed. In response to this, you can leave a message in your voicemail that your number has been spoofed, warning your callers not to fall for the impersonator's tricks. You should also file complaints with the Federal Communications Commission. Typically, scammers switch numbers frequently so it is likely your number will be replaced by someone else's within a few hours.
Why is Phone Spoofing Illegal?
Caller ID spoofing is legal in the United States unless done with malicious intent. Under the Truth in Caller ID Act, the FCC prohibits any person or entity from transmitting misleading or inaccurate caller ID information with the intent to defraud, cause harm, or wrongly obtain any valuable item. Hence, if no harm is intended or caused, phone spoofing is not illegal.
Heralded as a means for people to screen nuisance calls, caller ID has become a way for scammers to make annoying calls. Scammers can spoof phone numbers from your local area code or a number that you recognize. To transmit an inaccurate caller ID, spoofers need three pieces of information: the number they are calling from, the number to call, and whatever phone number they want to display on the receiver’s end. When the target receives the call, the caller ID gets transmitted between the first and second numbers.
How Can You Identify and Protect Yourself from Illegal Spoofed Calls?
It is not always easy to tell whether an incoming call has been spoofed. Many times, you may have answered a call and opened up to a risk of falling victim to a scam only to realize when it is too late. To identify and reduce the risk of falling victim to phone scams or illegal spoofed calls, follow the guidelines listed below.
- Hang up on any phone call that seems to originate from a trusted source, but the caller is asking to collect confidential information or money.
- Hang up on robocalls. If you answer a phone call and hear a prerecorded message, hang up immediately. Do not press any number to speak with a live agent.
- Be wary of repeated calls from caller IDs to appear to be legitimate businesses or organizations which fail to leave any message in your voicemail.
- Download and install a call-blocking application, such as Hiya, Nomorobo, or Truecaller on your phone. These are all available on both the iOS and Android app stores.
- Add your number to the National Do Not Call Registry. Legitimate telemarketers do not call numbers on the DNC registry. If you still receive phone calls from telemarketers 31 days after adding your number to the registry, chances are that those are from scammers
- Report any experience with spoofed calls to the FCC online.
Does Maine Have Anti-Spoofing Laws?
Maine LD 277 considers it an unfair trade practice for a seller or telemarketer to cause any caller identification services to transmit misleading or inaccurate caller identification information with the intent to defraud or cause harm to another person or to wrongfully obtain anything of value. The law is quite a reiteration of the federal anti-spoofing regulation in the United States, known as the Truth in Caller ID Act. The Act makes it illegal for anyone in America to cause any caller identification service to transmit misleading or inaccurate caller identification information to deliberately defraud, harm, or wrongfully acquire a valuable item. Violators of the Truth in Caller ID Act are liable to forfeit between $10,000 and $1,000,000 per contravention.
Following the FCC directive, all origination and terminating voice providers are required to implement the caller ID authentication protocol STIR/SHAKEN before June 2021. STIR/SHAKEN, short for Secure Telephone Identity Revisited (STIR) and Signature-based Handling of Asserted Information Using toKENs (SHAKEN) will require calls traveling through interconnected phone networks to have their caller ID signed as legitimate by source carriers and validated by other carriers before reaching consumers. Hence, call recipients will be able to verify that call truly originates from the number displayed on the caller ID.
What are Common Phone Scams involving Caller ID Spoofing in Maine?
Phone spoofing has become a real nuisance with scammers and machines hiding behind a number that they are not authorized to use. Malicious persons use it to impersonate legitimate sources and persons, including neighbors, local law enforcement personnel, and banks. Mainers who have been targeted may contact the FCC by calling 1-888-CALL FCC (225-5322). Some of the common phone spoofing scams that occur in Maine are listed below:
- IRS scams
- Advance fee loan scams
- Computer fix scams
- Fake check scams
- Government grant scams
- Debt-relief scams
- Telemarketing scams
- Medicare scams
- Utility bill scams
- Charity scams
- Grandparent scams