Caller ID spoofing
"[2][3] Caller ID spoofing has been available for years to people with a specialized digital connection to the telephone company, called an ISDN PRI circuit.
Often the sellers are asked for personal information such as a copy of a registration title, etc., before the (scammer) purchaser invests the time and effort to come and see the items for sale.
[7] In 2009, a vindictive Brooklyn wife spoofed the doctor's office of her husband's lover in an attempt to trick the other woman into taking medication which would make her miscarry.
By 2014, an increase in illegal telemarketers displaying the victim's own number, either verbatim or with a few digits randomized, was observed as an attempt to evade caller ID-based blacklists.
In June 2012, a search on Google returned nearly 50,000 consumer complaints by individuals receiving multiple continuing spoofed voice over IP (VoIP) calls on lines leased / originating from "Pacific Telecom Communications Group" located in Los Angeles, CA (in a mailbox store), in apparent violation of FCC rules.
In 2013, the misleading caller name "Teachers Phone" was reported on a large quantity of robocalls advertising credit card services as a ruse to trick students' families into answering the unwanted calls in the mistaken belief they were from local schools.
[20] Bogus caller ID has also been used in grandparent scams, which target the elderly by impersonating family members and requesting wire transfer of money.
If the caller name is sent with the call (instead of being generated from the number by a database lookup at destination) it may be configured as part of the settings on a client-owned analog telephone adapter or SIP phone.
A provider which allows users to bring their own device and unbundles service so that direct inward dial numbers may be purchased separately from outbound calling minutes will be more flexible.
Other methods include switch access to the Signaling System 7 network and social engineering telephone company operators, who place calls for you from the desired phone number.
This results in multiple possible outcomes: Caller ID spoofing remains legal in Canada, and has recently become so prevalent that the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre has "add[ed] an automated message about [the practice] to their fraud-reporting hotline".
[26] The agency advises Canadians to file complaints regarding such calls,[27] provides a list of protection options for dealing with them on its website,[28] and, from July through December 2015, held a public consultation to identify "technical solutions" to address the issue.
[35][34] On December 19, 2018, the CRTC announced that beginning in a year from that date, phone providers must block all calls with caller IDs that do not conform to established numbering plans.
Saunders said, "It's only when the vast majority of people are on the new technology (VOIP) that we can implement a new patch to address this problem [of Caller ID spoofing].
"[40] In November 2022, Lindsey Fussell, Group Director for Networks and Communications at Ofcom, commented on the ongoing efforts to combat call spoofing in the UK.
Fussell emphasized the inherent challenges in implementing new measures to block spoofed calls, noting the importance of not impacting legitimate communications.
The Times abandoned this practice because of the proposed changes to the caller ID law, and because many companies were blocking calls from the well-known number.
The FCC has mandated that telecom providers implement STIR/SHAKEN-based caller ID attestation in the IP portions of their networks beginning no later than June 30, 2021.
