(Mis)Uses of Technology

(Mis)Uses of Technology

by Mike Masnick




Caller ID Spoofing... For Businesses

from the that-will-be-fun dept

Forget spoofed email headers, a new company has been set up to help companies spoof the caller ID. The product is focused at collections agencies and private investigators, who can call a deadbeat up pretending to be someone they know to get them to answer the phone. The company insists they just want to target those types of customers, but I imagine some telemarketers would enjoy using such a tool. Meanwhile, there are some questions on legality. One person notes that it doesn't appear to break any laws -- but someone else points out that there are rules against collections agencies misrepresenting themselves. And, of course, as soon as this becomes popular, someone will pass a law banning caller ID spoofing.

9 Comments | Leave a Comment..

 
 

Reader Comments

(Flattened / Threaded)

    Aug 27th, 2004 @ 8:35pm
  • Outlawing VoIP

    by dorpus

    Well, maybe VoIP will fail on its own anyway -- bad audio quality, networks that won't talk to each other, VoIP spam. I imagine there could be VoIP "worms" that make calls to people making death threats, telling them all their personal information.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

    • Aug 27th, 2004 @ 10:53pm
    • Re: Outlawing VoIP

      by Seedo

      (1) This story has nothing to do with VoIP

      (2) These days, many VoIP networks have better-than-POTS quality

      (3) Almost all VoIP networks now have interconnect

      Do you ever get facts right?

      (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

      • Aug 28th, 2004 @ 1:17am
      • Re: Outlawing VoIP

        by dorpus

        1. Won't spoofing caller ID be easier on VoIP? This type of forum is full of techies eager to boast that they don't have a land line anymore.

        2. and 3.: VoIP companies and VoIP enthusiasts claim this, but the reality is otherwise.

        (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

      • Aug 29th, 2004 @ 7:56pm
      • Re: Outlawing VoIP

        by Anonymous Coward

        Do you ever get facts right?

        No, that is part of the charm of Dorpus here. He can't be bothered with facts, just his adjenda.

        You are not the 1st person to notice Dorpus's position on Techdirt of chief spewer of crap.

        (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

    Aug 28th, 2004 @ 8:31am
  • Telemarketers can already do this

    by DV Henkel-Wallace

    ANI information is normally sent by the originating equipment. "Caller ID" is only accurate when you have a single line to the switch (i.e. residential and small commercial customers). Any business with a T-1 or ISDN connection through their PBX to the CO (i.e. any business with more than about 12 lines or so, depending on tariff) can generate any caller-ID string they want.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  • Aug 30th, 2004 @ 7:08am
  • Why worrying with spoofing ANI when VOIP is better

    by packetman

    What would prohibit a Private Investigator from firing up a VOIP number and changing it every couple of months?

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  • Feb 11th, 2005 @ 6:02pm
  • Spoofing

    Go to www.covertcall.com/6133

    this site offers caller id spoofing.

    check it out. only 5 cents a minute...

    there is a free test you can do.

    so goto the link, register your phone number and call your self off the test to see different numbers come up on your caller id.

    when you register though, know that your using your phone number, and u wont be able to register that # again.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  • Dec 5th, 2006 @ 10:48am
  • by Anonymous Coward

    here is another site that is doing it:

    www.thezerogroup.com

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  • Dec 15th, 2008 @ 12:14am
  • This is serious!

    We had a guy at my work spoofing his caller ID so that people wouldn't know he was calling from work. Well, I guess he got pissed off one day, one thing lead to another, and he made some threats against some pretty important people. Needless to say, some more important people came knocking.
    Check out my guide to PROPERLY Spoof Caller ID
    Nice article from the "This will be fun dept". Josh

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

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