In the past couple of weeks I’ve had 3 different customers call me with the same problem. They have been getting some irate phone calls from people claiming that they are receiving strange, sometimes menacing phone calls and the caller id info on the calls has been the business’ toll free number.
Similar to email spoofing, caller ID spoofing has been around for a long time. While there are some very legitimate uses for caller ID spoofing, it seems that the popular anonymous call rejection feature offered by most local phone carriers has caused unscrupulous telemarketers and illicit boiler room operators to spoof their caller ID information to bypass the anonymous call rejection. Using a toll free number makes the incoming call seem more legitimate and keeps the boiler room company from having to spoof a different number for every area code.
Congress has recently taken up caller ID spoofing and both the House and Senate recently passed bills outlawing the practice. While certainly a nice idea, it’s doubtful that boiler room operations are going to care very much about breaking an obscure telecommunications law, when they are in the business of stock manipulation and fraud.
It’s almost impossible to keep your toll free number from being used in this way. If you do find your business the victim of caller ID spoofing, try and explain what is happening when people call you to complain and tell them to call their local phone company and get a call trap placed on their lines.
Andrew Taub
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