Spoofing is as Easy as 1-2-3
Landliners are aware of the term “spoofing.” But many might not think they know exactly what the term “spoofing” refers to.
So let’s do a little exercise.
Have you ever received a phone call, checked the caller ID, and answered because you recognized the area code?
Or, taking this thought exercise one step beyond area code recognition, saw that the name of the “caller” shown on caller ID appeared to be the same name as your neighbor? But only after you answered you found out it actually wasn’t your neighbor?
If so, then you’ve experienced “spoofing” firsthand.
What is Spoofing?
According to Spooftel, the self-proclaimed “world leader in caller ID spoofing,” spoofing is defined as:
“Spoofing, or caller ID spoofing, is the ability to protect the identity of your telephone number by disguising it as another number. Instead of displaying your real telephone number when placing calls, sending an SMS, or sending a fax, you can choose the number that you want to appear.”
Basically, spoofing technology allows you to trick caller ID. And it is cheap and easy to use.
Why Use Spoofing?
The “good guy” argument companies try to make is that today, it is more important than ever to protect your personal information - and that includes a telephone number. So by offering callers a way to “tweak” how your phone number shows up through incoming calls keeps you safe.
However, inverting that logic also means that “tweaking” your caller ID information makes it really easy for bad guys to trick you into answering. And once they have you on the line, they are able to extract all kinds of information from you. So not only is this not “protecting” your personal information, it is making the vulnerable even more so.
Why Does Spoofing Work?
The reality is that spoofing technology is cheap and easy. As a result, the economics work in favor of the spammers and scammers.
With the cost of placing billions of outbound calls being so cheap, they only need a handful of people to answer the phone and fall for their scam in order to make a lot of money. This is also why trying to block a phone number after it calls you is a risky (not to mention, tedious and ineffective) strategy. By the time the phone rings, it's already too late.
Try Spoofing for Yourself
Spooftel lets you place your own personal spoofed call for free. Seriously.
Check out this link: “Free Caller ID Spoofing Trial”
All you need to do is enter your phone, the number you want to call, and the name and number you’d like displayed on the receiver’s caller ID. You can even incorporate features like changing the pitch of your voice or use a soundboard.
Try Spoofing George
George is the founder and president of imp.
He really dislikes unwanted calls. As in “really, really” dislikes. As in dislikes enough to “spend over two years developing the technology to stop 100% of them.”
So it makes sense for us to put his home phone number out there on the interwebs for people to call whenever they want. You can call him at: 603-643-3746
Seriously. This is his home phone. The one that rings next to his bed at night. And his desk during the day. And his kitchen table during dinner.
But that’s how much he trusts imp. And how unbothered he is by unwanted calls.
Here’s an easy way to get a 2-for-1:
- See how easy it so spoof a phone number
- Call George (603-643-3746 ) and see how good imp is at stopping unwanted calls
