Phone scammers are spoofing everyone's phone numbers lately

[htuttle]

I've read that others have noticed an uptick in recorded spam calls. They usually come from local area codes, and often start off with "Don't Hang Up!" before they go on to talk about car warranties or credit card savings.

Calling back one of these numbers usually gets you a confused person on the other end who swears that they didn't call you. I myself have been on both sides of these calls, both calling back a number in my phone history to get a person who didn't call me, and being called by someone else who says I just called them.

What I'm concerned about is the integrity of our phone systems. It used to be pretty hard to spoof a number, but now fly-by-night car warranty boiler rooms are able to afford it?

Also wondering whether this is going to lead to more chaos around election time. Certainly can't trust the caller ID of the people calling you anymore.

[kimbutgar]

1. I am rapidly filling up my call block on my landline and just figured out how to do on my cell

Phone. I get all those numbers with the first three digits of my phone at least 4 times a day. Today I already got two of them.

[htuttle]

2. Thing is, you are blocking people's numbers who have nothing to do with the spam calls

Actually, we both are. I've been blocking a half dozen a day for weeks now.

[Amishman]

24. It's a randomly generated number changed frequently, blocking is worse than useless

They'll be using a new number shortly and you will still have the real owner of that number blocked

Don't block them

[lagomorph777]

20. Same first three digits - that's what I see too.

And I'm filling up my blocked list as well. Not an issue for me because only two or three people legitimately call me anyway.

[Louis1895]

3. I received a call from an unknown number last night...

...and I thought it might be a repairman calling me back so I answered. I said hello and some woman went into a rant about me calling her! I told her "No, you called me" and she said yes but that was only because I called her multiple times and to stop doing it! Then she hung up on me!

I think my number was spoofed by someone and now I am getting irate phone from their victims.

[spooky3]

5. I've gotten messages to that effect left on the voice recorder. nt

[htuttle]

7. My imagination can conceive of a number of ways someone might screw with an election...

...using the power to spoof caller ID on a massive scale.

[tonyt53]

4. I have one that used my own number.

[eleny]

8. That happened to us, too, just once so far

[SharonAnn]

47. Me too. It was almost funny.

[imanamerican63]

6. I don't answer!

When I see there is an odd number, I let it ring & then block that number. I'm waiting to see if my number to show!

[Sherman A1]

9. Same here

Any number with my prefix is automatically ignored and most others are as well unless I am expecting a call and in that case I usually know the number from which it is coming.

[Boomerproud]

15. Yep. I don't answer unless I recognize the number.

n/t

[rurallib]

42. if it is someone who really wants you they will leave a message.

[csziggy]

53. I've gotten a lot of calls from medical offices and insurance that are not normal numbers

Week before last I was expecting a call to set up a MRI scan. I didn't get one but when I called them last Monday to find out why (after I received a letter from them), they claimed they called me twice and left messages both times. The only two calls that I got the previous week were both nonsensical numbers (011-000-0000) and only rang once.

I've gotten calls from disability insurance companies with blocked numbers.

These kinds of calls I cannot miss - I have to make sure I answer since as with the MRI calls the offices will not try very hard to get in touch and often do not leave messages.

[spanone]

10. I get calls where the caller I.D. says 'Scam Likely'

no shit

[MontanaMama]

27. How do you get your cell phone to

generate the 'Scam Likely' message? I get bombarded with unknown numbers with my area code and they always end up leaving a voicemail about health insurance...plans available in my area blah blah blah. Different # every time multiple times per day.

[cyclonefence]

35. I get the Scam Likely message too

and have no idea of how. It started, out of the blue, only recently, maybe in the past four months or so. If you find your phone's user manual online, you may be able to figure out how to activate it, if it's an option for you.

I searched "scam likely caller id" and found this:

T-Mobile and MetroPCS (which is owned by T-Mobile) now offer a “Scam ID” feature that’s turned on by default. Whenever someone calls you, your cellular carrier checks that number against a database of known scam phone numbers. If it matches a reported scammer, the caller’s number is tagged with “Scam Likely” so you can keep your guard up when you answer the call.

This feature is designed to protect against robocalls, tech support scams, IRS impersonation scams, and really any kind of phone call that attempts to defraud you.

The “Scam Likely” tag is applied on the carrier’s end of things, before the call is even sent to your phone. The tag appears on caller ID, so this works with iPhones, Android phones, and everything else. The setup doesn’t require any special software on your phone.https://www.howtogeek.com/340192/who-is-scam-likely-and-why-are-they-calling-your-phone/

I don't have T Mobile or MetroPCS, btw.

[spanone]

41. I didn't do anything that I'm aware of. It just comes up as if that was the name.

[crazycatlady]

63. I just got a new phone

It's a part of enhanced caller ID. I'm not opting for it as it's $2.99 per month.

[MontanaMama]

66. Hmmm. I probably wouldn't opt

for it at that price either. But you made me think I should call Verizon to inquire as to what possible solutions are out there. My cell # is the primary contact for our family, my kiddo’s school, doctor etc. sometimes I just need to answer. Thanks!

[wasupaloopa]

11. If my phone says unknown caller I don't answer.

If they need to talk to me leave a message

[Snotcicles]

12. Caller ID Spoofing. There are apps. that change the out-going number. nt

[iscooterliberally]

13. I have to answer a lot of these calls.

The problem for me is that I have a missing kitty. She's been gone about 6 months now, but she has a microchip. Any unknown number could be a shelter or vets office somewhere trying to reach me. My cell phone is good about saying 'Scam Likely' when an unknown number rings. I have learned to wait 2-3 seconds before I say anything when I answer the phone. It seems that the pause confuses automated calls and they disconnect.

[Lee-Lee]

14. The integrity of the system is the same, but the technology they have has changed

It’s not that the phone system is messed up. It is that it hasn’t advanced since caller ID technology came about and it isn’t going to anytime soon, but modern technology makes spoofing the Sigbal easy- any VOIP or analog based system that connects via a PBX can send whatever signal the administrators of that system want and the system from then on will repeat it.

That was a handy thing when it was still a little hard to do it and was used legitimately- like from the Sheriffs office we could call from our phones that all had their own number but the caller ID would show the main office number for the SO and not our desk number.

But now it can all be done with a simple computer program that voice dials it all.

And since most of it originates overseas, very hard to legally clamp down on. As soon as the phone company finds and shuts down one they go to a new number.

[htuttle]

22. It's about telcos allowing spoofed calls through as well

I had to help set up and administer an Asterix system at one point, and we soon discovered that we couldn't just set the outgoing phone number to anything we wanted to, though the software would have allowed us to do so. If we didn't set the correct outgoing number according to the telco, it would just override it. That was with ATT.

I'm reminded of the sorts of trust issues that had to be worked out on the internet with SSL certificates, etc. What to do about a telco that is a 'bad actor'? Especially if they are overseas. Deny all calls through them? What if they are the only telephone company in the area?

[dembotoz]

64. more equipment than telco

[HAB911]

16. Help is on the way

STIR AND SHAKEN
https://transnexus.com/solutions/stir-and-shaken/understanding-stir-and-shaken

[htuttle]

19. Cool -- reminds me of DKIM and SPF for email

In both cases, sort of bolt-on solutions to legacy technologies.

[ThoughtCriminal]

17. We can, in part, thank the Republicans for these calls

By blocking Truth in Caller ID Act legislation.

Scammers, both foreign and domestic, can always depend on the GOP to keep them in business, and their voters to become gullible customers.

[WhiteTara]

18. I don't have any more. I have a police whistle that

I got while a young woman living alone who would from time to time get heavy breathers on the phone. The whistle deterred them from calling again.

So, I kept getting calls here and I warned the callers for months (they seem to be the same ones over and over) So finally one day, I just said, I have warned you many times and now I have something for you. I blew my whistle. Not very well but a little shriek came out and that was the last call. He did call me an asshole before I hung up.

[matt819]

21. It's no longer getting out of hand

It's out of hand.

Everyone who answers the phone, including me, answers with hello with a question mark at the end. Not sure if any call is legit anymore. I'm probably at the point of not answering actual business calls. I only use my cell, and I have hundreds of blocked numbers and use a spam call service - Nomorobo. And calls still come through. I make sure to add every legitimate call to my contacts list, so that I can answer properly if they call in the future.

[Petosky Stone]

23. How many are the ones that just hand over their phone number, willy-nilly,

and have hundreds of "free" apps on their phones?

I was recently in a dollar store and the cashier asked everyone for their phone numbers....
And everyone just spit them out, no questions asked. These stores have no "clubs" or "discount cards".

I get one hang-up call every couple of months. I don't answer or call back (those in themselves are huge mistakes).

[Behind the Aegis]

25. Pisses me off!

Like you, and apparently several others, I have been getting those calls as well. I have even called back to find someone wonder who I was and vice versa. It is disgusting. It needs to stop!

[Squinch]

26. It IS a huge number and it makes me so sad to think there are THAT many people out there

just trying to shit all over another human being.

[flibbitygiblets]

29. The worst are the ones claiming to be the IRS and threating people with jail

These people are completely soulless. Funny how many people who work for the "IRS" have Russian accents.

[Squinch]

31. They call me all the time. Also the ones wanting to know if I got my new credit card rates in the

mail.

Terrible, terrible people.

[BREMPRO]

40. i would not be surprised to learn these are russian trolls trying so sow discontent and disrupt our

communications and trust among each other. I'll just ignore until we have a responsible administration that is willing to do something about this daily nuisance.

[CountAllVotes]

28. This drives me crazy

I tend to turn off the phone and turn off the answering machine and to hell with it!

So much for the Do Not Call list eh?

One thing I was told to never do is this:

If you get a call and you don't know who it is and they ask for you by name, DO NOT SAY the word YES this is he/she. They are using the word YES to say you are agreeing to whatever they are selling or scamming.

So don't say YES, just HANG-UP!

[Qutzupalotl]

33. I got a few of those. They ask innocently if they can tell me more

about their exciting offers. I had heard they were looking for a Yes so they can charge my credit card or sign me up for something I don't want. I make it a point to yell “NO!” or if I'm mad, “fuck off!”

[flibbitygiblets]

30. The thing is, I work from home and CAN'T just ignore incoming calls

Once I got a call from someone claiming to be from "Medicare". I nearly hung up on the guy, since that's a common scam, but I happened to be working with someone from the REAL Medicare Administration on a legit business project. Fortunately I figured it out and didn't alienate someone who was trying to help me solve an issue...

But yeah, if the call is from my prefix code and I don't recognize, I hit the bitch button.

[TCJ70]

32. If the first 6 numbers match mine I don't pick it up...

...it’s never worth it.

[Iggo]

50. LOL

[alwaysinasnit]

34. This only works with live scammers not robocalls...

I answer the phone with "law office." They hang up right away.

[yonder]

36. Six or seven weeks ago is when we noticed the uptick in spam/spoofing calls.

Where we used to get 6 or 7 a week, we're now getting that many a day. All of the sudden it was like a switch turned on. The calls coming from a shown non-local area code remained about the same, but the ones showing our local area code increased.

I don't know what to make of it. In the 60's we put a man on the moon in 9 years - with 60's technology. It sure seems we should be able to stop this with the technology we have today.

[htuttle]

38. The same thing happened with email at one point

First decade of this century, I was getting so much spam that email practically became useless. Then it seemed like ISP's and such came up with better spam blocking technology to the point where it's manageable again.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

46. Yeah

and now most people use Social Media for communication. I only use e-mail for registration purposes, bills, etc.

[Thunderbeast]

37. Bite back with Jolly Roger!

Not foolproof, but clearly more fun!

https://jollyrogertelephone.com

Best $8 per YEAR I spend.

[renate]

43. Thanks!!

This looks hilarious!!

I googled it and found this... too funny!

https://www.npr.org/2016/02/25/468149405/jolly-roger-telephone-company-uses-software-to-entrap-telemarketers

[TheBlackAdder]

39. It was hard spoofing numbers when using copper land lines. Verizon's VoIP, I get spam calls a lot.

[JDC]

44. Use Mr Number App if you have a smart phone and are spammed on that

It will provide you with a notification of a local area code and prefix spoofing as well as marketing numbers that are group identified into a database. If you want to block, you can right drom there also. Free app. Its pretty good, been using it for a year or so.

[musette_sf]

45. I get most of my spoof calls on my work mobile phone.

I then check the number against the corporate directory, just to make sure it wasn't someone calling who I legit need to talk to but is not in my contacts list.

Actually got a call recently from a number that matched a fellow employee's number in the directory - someone I didn't know who worked in a different functional area. Called him "back" to find he hadn't called me, and had no idea why I was calling him "back".

[Liberal In Texas]

48. The spoofing showing bogus caller ID should be

A) Illegal
B) Not actually possible with currently available tech.
C)Violators actively prosecuted.

There just isn't any will to do this with the current repub government. Caller ID is a joke. It's not enforced.

[MicaelS]

49. I've had a spoofer call me using my own number.

Needless to say, I just did a call reject.

[Purrfessor]

51. I made a personal ringtone using the GarageBand app...

and set it as the ringtone for everyone I expect to get calls from in my contacts list. If it is activated I know to answer it. Otherwise I don’t even check when the default ringtone is activated. If it’s important they will leave a message.

[Iggo]

67. If it's important they will leave a message. If it's important they will leave a message.

If it’s important they will leave a message. If it’s important they will leave a message.
If it’s important they will leave a message. If it’s important they will leave a message.
If it’s important they will leave a message. If it’s important they will leave a message.
If it’s important they will leave a message. If it’s important they will leave a message.


Seriously. You can't say that enough.

[wellst0nev0ter]

52. I use an out-of-state area code

for my cellphone. So when a number starts with that area code, I know 9.9 times out of ten I am being spoofed.

If the number calling has an in-state area code, then that's when I pick up.

[smirkymonkey]

62. Same here. I am constantly getting calls from my old NYC area code, which I never

answer, even though I have lived in Boston for the past 6 years. I still retained my old NY phone number. I was blocking the numbers for a while, but it didn't seem to stop them from coming through.

I almost never have my phone on ring unless I am expecting a call and never pick up if it isn't someone I know. If it is important, they will leave a message. But still, it's very annoying. Why would people do this?

[KentuckyWoman]

54. i supposedly call my own landline at least once a week

most of our crap calls are supposedly from Medicare or medical related.

I have yet to see them spoof a number of someone I actually know, but expect that to be on the horizon.

[CousinIT]

55. Got two just today. NoMoRobo helps with robocalls but not spoofed ones...

...I just block the damn things.

May be useless but until/unless another solution is devised well, it's all I've got.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

56. Interesting.

I personally have not seen an uptick in spam phone calls, and I am definitely not seeing ones from my own area code, let alone ones that seem local to me.

I generally don't answer a call unless I actually recognize the number. It can go to the answering machine, or if I'm on a call, to my voice mail. Most of the time a spam call doesn't leave a message, and the ones that do -- like the fake IRS ones -- I simply delete.

I have both a land line and a cell phone, for what that's worth. I do get far fewer spam calls on the cell, but it enrages me when I do, because I'm under the impression that such spam calls should NEVER show up on a cell.

[marybourg]

57. We managed very well before there was caller ID. I think it's

worse than useless. Answering machines worked to effectively screen unwanted calls, if used ruthlessly.

[demosincebirth]

58. I get calls where a lady starts off ranting in Chinese

[area51]

60. Interesting.

I've gotten a few calls on a cell, in some Asian language. Wonder if it was the same marketer as yours.

[htuttle]

65. I've been getting those too

Usually about once per week now.

[DFW]

59. It's far less of a problem here in Germany, but we still get it

I usually just start answering in Swedish or Italian, or something a call center targeting Germany isn't likely to have trained its callers to speak.

[pnwmom]

61. I got a call today that spoofed the name of a HOSPITAL in Virginia.

The name didn't mean anything to me, so I just let it go. But I looked up the phone number and people were reporting it as a scammer.

I bet lots of people answer when they see a hospital's name on the ID.

[BSdetect]

68. We get a lot of calls with no voice response then they hang up. Different numbers.