High Increase in Caller ID Neighbor Spoofing

There has been a sudden increase in caller id spoofing using local phone numbers. What you can do to combat this?

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Intro

There has been a sudden and significant increase in scam calls from what appears to be local phone numbers. The sudden increase in 2018 - 2019 can mean you may receive several of these calls a day. Scam calls are on the increase and it is difficult for folks to know what calls are real or not. This is particularly badfor business that rely on local business and the elderly. So what is going on?

Why do people make scam calls?

The standard answer to why people do things is, because they can. This may seem like a cop-out answer, however, it is always true. Another answer is that it works. Even when a small percentage of a lot of calls payoff, then that is a win. Automation costs virtually nothing. With automation, calls can be made by a relatively small number if people, if any, very quickly. When scam callers can no longer make spoofed calls with success, the practice will end. The sooner that scam callers begin to fail, the sooner these calls decrease or even stop entirely.

How prevalent are scam calls?

There has been a steady increase in robocalling through the past decades, however, there has been a sudden increase in 2018 into 2019. I have noticed a radical increase in just the past few months. I have gotten as many as five in an hour, all spoofed caller Ids, all frauds, and likely all from the same scammer. This was on an unlisted and otherwise unpublished number and given out very cautiously. Except for business and family, no-one should be calling this number. And yet, the vast majority of the calls were automated robocalls likely targeting the whole block of phone numbers within certain exchanges at a time. The number of calls a robocaller can make is stagering. For the consumer, this can seem like a war we cannot win. However, we can and we shall.

According to a Harris Poll, 1 in 10 Americans lost money in phone scams between April 2016 and April 2017 with an average $430 per person for a total of $9.5 billion. A 56% monetary increase over the previous year. Approximately 79% of all calls are spam and fraud. Approximately 50% of these calls are made using Voice Over IP (VoIP). Because calls are made over the Internet, not much of an investment needs to be made. Anyone can blast recorded spam messages from their own home for just a few hundred or a thousand dollars. Since most scam calls come from overseas, there is no accountability either.

Nearly one-third of calls are either high risk or nuisance. Negative calls are evenly split between nuisance calls and high-risk calls, and the rate of negative calling to landline subscribers is more than double wireless subscribers.

Negative call activity continued to increase over the last eight months. Negative call activity has risen almost 15% through the first 8 months of the year. (2018)

Neighbor spoofing has emerged as a preferred tactic. Robocall scammers believe users are more likely to answer the phone if the caller ID shows a familiar number.

Robocallers doubling down on invalid numbers. The use of invalid numbers (such as those with area codes that don’t exist) continues to rise, doubling over the first six months of the year.

One source claims 4.4 billion robocalls in September 2017.

What is Caller ID Spoofing?

Caller ID Spoofing is when a caller sets their caller ID data to something other than what was set by the service provider. Service providers generally set caller ID data to the organizations name and the phone number assigned to them. Spoofing is simply overriding the service providers caller ID data with fake data in an attempt to deceive the call recipient. This is done for two reasons. One, to hide who they are; and two, to entice you to answer the call. Many modern phone systems allow a user to set their caller ID for practical purposes such as providing the corporate phone number and not the specific extension used. However, scammers have specialized systems to automate high volume calling with fake caller ID data as a part of their operations. It is cheap and easy to do these days especially with Voice Over IP (VoIP) telephone services.

The Truth in Caller ID Act 2010 makes the use of spoofed caller IDs illegal with few exceptions to include use by law enforcement or to set your own caller ID information as blank.

It shall be unlawful for any person within the United States, in connection with any real time voice communications service, regardless of the technology or network utilized, to cause any caller ID service to transmit misleading or inaccurate caller ID information, with the intent to defraud or deceive.

Neighbor Spoofing

Neighbor Spoofing is simply setting the caller ID data to the call recipients area code and local exchange. For example, if you live in Bedford Pennsylvania the caller ID would be set to (814) 623-xxxx to appear to be a local call. This is done simply because people are wary of non-local calls and trust local calls universally. On rare occasions the caller ID is set to your own name and number when calling you though this largely does not work well since it confuses call recipients. With neighbor spoofing it is nearly impossible to know if the call is legitimate of not. It is also nearly impossible to block neighbor spoofing calls or even to prosecute abusers which may be one reason for the recent increase.

Is Neighbor Spoofing legal?

It depends upon who you ask. One example is if an actual neighbor calls you and spoofs their caller ID. It is said that could be legal. However, read the law again. It is all about intent. The word "deceive" is not tightly defined and therefore means exactly what it appears to mean. Use of a spoofed caller ID is, by design, meant to deceive. What other purpose could there be? It is an intentional falsification that requires the user to take an action to enable. As in most cases, what is legal depends upon the judge who is tasked to interpret the law. One judge may give a pass to an individual which then sets a precedent where another judge goes by the letter of the law. The law is quite clear. Intent is the key. Is the caller intending to deceive? Some say that if the call itself is not intended to deceive, then caller ID spoofing is legal. However, as I have already argued, intent starts with the dialing of the phone. Deception, in this case, is self-evident. Think about it this way. Their first contact with you is intentionally deceptive. Does the nature of the call matter after that? No.

Invalid or disconnected phone numbers.

Besides neighbor spoofing, scammers are intentionally using phone numbers that are invalid or disconnected. A call placed does not have to have a valid phone number in the caller ID. Some phone numbers are redicuous. For example, the New York Times was famous for using (111) 111-1111 before finally ending the practice. Still, you will often find that most neighbor spoofing calls are using phone numbers that do not work for one reason or another. From a technology point of view, this should be easy to defeat, however, these systems do not easily exist though some newer call blockers validate a number before making the connection. What is hardest to block are valid names and phone numbers that are spoofed simply because there are very few clues, if any. Most calls traverse more than one provider service and the caller ID has to be taken as is. There is no way to fully validate caller ID data in real-time as it exists now. Where these problems can be defeated with any hope is when the originating phone service provider does the work to pattern match calls from a higher volume caller. Then, and only then, can this practice be easily defeated.

Where do most of these calls come from?

The answer to this depends on what kinds of calls you are talking about. Legal telemarketers can exist almost anywhere, however, do tend to concentrate in places where people are desparate for work and will work for cheap. Dangle a commission payment and the skys the limit. Another consideration are local laws, property values, taxes, the permissiveness of the local service provider, etc. Generally telemarketers are located in poorer neighborhoods on the fringe of poverty and safety. However, if the caller is a scammer then they are likely located overseas where laws are laxed, non-existant, or not enforced. Service providers in some countries are very permissive and only want the cash. Again, these will be in poorer neighborhoods in poorer countries. It is unrealistic to expect these countries service providers will be interested in solving any problems the U.S. has. As already established, it is far more difficult to know if a call is legit once passed from one provider to another.

Please do understand that some cellular service providers do provide free services to block robocalls and scam calls. Verizon, for example, is said to be 93% accurate. It is nice to hear some good news.

What is an auto-dialer?

Simply put, an auto dialer is any system that automates the dialing process. An auto dialer can use a database of phone numbers from a marketing list or customer list, or use a range of phone numbers, or use a list of unused phone numbers. These systems dial the phone number and can play a recording, or connect a live-person, or use a computer for something like bill paying or for appointment reminders. Using auto dialers is not necessarily illegal except under certain circumstances where the name of the company and phone number is not given, opt-in or opt-out is not available, a live-person is not available, or where the Do Not Call list is not used. There are perfectly valid uses to use auto dialers. One common valid use is for emergencies.

What is a Robocaller?

A robocaller is any one who uses an auto-dialer. Nothing more. However, the term originates from the abuse of auto dialers and often refers to abusive calls.

Is using a robocaller illegal?

It can be. Setting aside fraud and the abuses I listed above, using a robocaller becomes illegal when no consent to be called is given. Callers using a robocaller can call you only once with only a few exceptions. After that, they need specific consent. For example, if you have a relationship with an entitiy, such as a utility or phone company, they can call you. They have established a relationship with you. However, anyone who issues an unsolicited call, they can only call you once. Any subcontractor of an entity you have a relationship with will also need to establish a relationship by getting your consent. Contract agreements with someone such as a utility is enough to make calling you on behalf of the utility legal, however, solicitation for 3rd party services is not legal without consent.

There are carve-outs to the law. For example, political calls, surveys, and non-profits and charities, and emergency purposes. I argue against politcal calls, surveys, and non-profits and charities. For example, one company skirts the law by conducting a survey before making a sales pitch. Charities are often not who they seem. For example, telemarketing companies often call representing a charity and collect monies keeping 90% of the monies collected. These telemarketers are often abusive against the elderly collecting for the same charity as many as four times a month (the legal limit) and calling representing many charities at once. It is not uncommon that these telemarketers drain the bank accounts of the elderly and only pass 10% of what they collect to the charity being represented.

There should be no carve-outs except for the public good that can be established by government. This requires justification. Governments do not have unchecked authority even is it seems that way. You have property rights as well as a right to privacy. No ones rights trump your rights unless by consent of the public. I am sure if you were to ask anyone if they feel that political calls, surveys, and non-profits and charities, especially in light of the reality of how much charities collect from such calls, have the right to call you, they would overwhelmingly say No. And they would be right. Strictly speaking, the governement does not have the right to transfer your rights to another in this way. Period. I will get into property and privacy rights later.

How do scammers get and your phone number?

Mostly by buying lists. Some will scrape the Internet for phone numbers. Others simply dial phone numbers within known ranges either serially or randomly. Other methods are through contest entries, websites where you provide personal information, from companies selling customer lists, warranty cards, surveys, and so on. Where names and phone numbers come from is vast. It is important to read all privacy agreements when dealing with a website, company, or other entity. Believe it or not, the DO Not Call list has also been used, though not likely these days.

Banks have been especially abusive. US Bancorp, Capital One, Chase Manhattan, Citibank, First U.S.A., Fleet Mortgage, GE Capital, and MBNA America have all sold customer data. US Bancorp went one step further by selling checking account numbers, credit card numbers, social security numbers, and account balance information to MemberWorks. However, US Bancorp is not the only one. We all think the information we give banks, including our wealth, is sacrosanct and protected as closely as the cash in the vault. There is no doubt that this is an abuse of trust and a privacy violation of vast proportions.

In one case, during a thirteen month period a national bank processed 95,573 cancellations of membership clubs and other products that were billed by preacquired account telemarketers without customers' authorization.

Tip: Do not answer calls you do not know. It is better that your answering machine not answer if possible. If a phone continuously rings then your phone number will eventually drop from most lists.

Once someone has your phone number they may pass these phone numbers to someone who specifically dials each number to determine if the phone number is answered including by an answering machine. These are known as "live" numbers. Live numbers are more valuable than numbers that are not answered simply because time is money. Everyone has gotten calls where the caller hangs up or does not leave a message. This is a clue. These are often calls to validate that your phone number is live. Someone who worked as a telemarketer once told me that establishing live number lists are so valuable that companies who have passed a list to be vetted as live have paid as much as $4 per number. This sounded crazy to me but he assured me that the cost savings in calling live numbers makes validating a list a lucrative business. I still doubt the $4 per number rate, however, what was told me is essentially true. Especially in light of those who rent out lists. Not all hang-ups are calls to determine live numbers.

What is a predictive dialer?

These are systems that dial many numbers at once and connect the first call to answer to a person. The remaining calls are simply dropped. Anyone who answers the phone can hear silence for a period before being connected or attempt to delay any hang-up by ringing a line as if to connect. If the line appears to be "live" but not answered by a person, the phone call is simply put back in the queue to call again. This is why you may get several of these calls within a period of minutes, hours, or even days.

Tip: Never make a donation or make a payment over the phone unless you called the charity or company directly.

Phone number lists are often rented though establishing your own list is highly desirable but expensive. Renting a list often comes with strings attached. For examle, if someone makes a purchase or donates money, that data must be returned. This is known as a "sucker" or "mooch" list. Knowing that a phone number has paid-off before is highly desireable and can be sold or rented for a significant price. This is the trap that honest and good people find themselves in. Make one donation to a charity and you are punished with lots of calls asking for money. The more you give the worse it gets. The elderly are targeted. A charity, for example, can only take 4 donations per month, however, a telemarketer who represents a charity can take 4 donations for one charity while soliciting for many others also takeing 4 donations each. Since charities often cannot afford to make their own calls, they use telemarketers to do the work for them. Often, the charity gets very little from your donation. The industry standard is about %10. The telemarketer gets the rest. So when someone gives a donation, the telemarketer not only calls over and over again for the same charity, but for quite a few other charities as well. And you will never know it is being done. You do not want to be on a "sucker" or "mooch" list. A "live" list is bad enough.

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It is all about the Benjamins.

It is all about the Benjamins. Are you surprised? Service providers, telemarketers, lobbyists, politicians, scammers, etc. are all working against your rights. Sounds conspiratorial? It is not. Unfortunately. You are a commodity to be used. It is as plain and simple as that.

Are service providers culpable?

Yes. Service providers sell products that enable telemarketing as well as products to block calls. Service providers sell dialing equipment, the lines, infrustructure, and even lists of customers. Service providers also sell unlisted numbers, caller IDs, and blocking services. Some service providers sell unlisted numbers that are public and offer little to no blocking at all. People can begin recieving telemarketing calls immediately when a new service is established because service providers provide your phone number to telemarketers instantly. Some service providers fail in providing caller ID data to the customer phone. It is interesting that on a land-line a single call will fail to provide caller ID data and the same call to a cell phone works as expected. This is by design. Cell phones are covered by stronger laws and land-line providers are not eager to stop telemarketing. Some service providers are notoriously abusive. I will not name then, however, suffice it to say, they are some of the largest in existance.

Do Not Call List

The Do Not Call List serves more honest marketers and does not protect consumers from most calls these days. And how could it? The concept was seriously flawed from the jump. The creation of the list puts the onus of protection upon the consumer. The best place to fight telemarketing abuse is at the service provider level and not at the consumer end. This just makes sense. What resources do you have to fight this battle? Very little. However, the telephone servie providers do have many of the resources needed to take on the fight. Scammers do not care about the Do Not Call list. In fact, violations of this law go largely unpunished simply for the fact that it is nearly impossible to enforce by the consumer especially with spoofed caller IDs. Most all abuses rely on spoofing the caller ID or at leasat being misleading with the caller ID. You should register for the Do Not Call list, however, this only solves a small portion of the calls people get these days.

And that is precisely the point. Phone calls made using spoofing are not made by legitimate or honest companies and do not respect the law. Think about it this way, their very first contact with you, the yet to be answered phone call, is fraudulant from the jump. There are things you can do, however, before I get into that, I will explain your rights first.

Who is exempt from the Do Not Call list?

Political organizations.
Charities and Non-Profits
Surveyors
Emergencies
And any company or organization you have an existing relationship with.

I do not agree that politcal organizations, charities, non-profits, or surveyors should have any right to call you. Think about it. Who are some of the biggest abusers of your time? I have already given my opinion on this so I will not go any further. However, your own experience can answer this question accurately.

Your rights you may not know about.

Property Rights

To begin, we must divide your view of your phone into two parts, the phone service and the phone itself. Your phone service is purchased by you for your private use. Your phone is purchased by you and for your private use. The difference is who owns what property. For example, while you own your phone, you do not own the wiring and equipment of the telephone service provider. Stepping back a bit, would it be anyones right to take your tools from your garage without your permission and begin to offer services such as a builder or landscaper? No. Of course not. Would someone have the right to plug their phone into your phone service box (NIB - Network Interface Box) outside of your house and begin making calls selling goods or services? No. Of course not. The phone and service you subscribe to by contract is your property. Not anyone elses. No one has the right to use your property especially for commercial use. Period. This has been well established in the courts since 1967.

Privacy Rights

The U.S. Constitution does not explicitly give specify a right to privacy, however, does give a general right with regard to the governement such as in search and seizures, housing soldiers, etc. I believe that a specific amendment should be written, however, I do not trust the process these days. My view is that lobbyists will have too much of a hand in any amanedment. Be that as it may, the 1967 Supreme Court desicion in Katz v. United States is intersting from one stand-point. The descision declared the right to privacy of a pay phone booth user. The users expectation to privacy was signalled by closing the door was upheld. In this case, the place was less of a concern and the right to privacy was, in a sense, transfered to the individual. Prior, any right to privacy was limited to the home and other places such as a hotel, hospital, etc. In the 1969 case Smith v. Maryland the Supreme Court established public versus private in its descision. In this case, because call records are, in effect, made public by giving rights to another, the servie provider, any right to privacy does not shield the user from non-disclosure. In this case, the user consented to the norms at the time. In a similar case the Justices upheld the 1969 descision to locations of a cell phone user citing that it is common knowledge that cell phone location data is redily available in the same ways that call records are and that the expectation to privacy is much less when a cell phone is used in public. Rememeber the 1967 decision required closing the pay phone booth door. This is not the case for cell phone users generally except in narrow circumstances. However, because the cell phone is private property, it is held to the standards of search and seizure requiring a warrant to obtain any information from the cell phone itself. Because of the 1969 descision, any disclosure of information does open a phone user to some loss of rights. This is why exemptions to the Do Not Call list exists for any entity with whom you have already established a relationship with. This does not apply otherwise. For example, you have not provided your phone number to a telemarketer and therefore have not given up your rights by disclosing your phone number. This is erased by entering contests and other similar activities where you give up your rights or by placing your phone number on the Internet without a valid disclosure.

In this respect, you have the right to expectation of privacy except where you have provided your phone number to another. People who provide their phone number loosely are at a greater risk of receiving unsolicited calls.

That said, the Do Not Call law does somewhat protect a user in one respect. If you obtain a phone number, that phone number has by requirement of law, been taken out of the pool for a period. As well, the Do Not Call law requires all telemarketers to drop a phone number which has transfered or been cancelled. In this way, if the previous user of a phone number has given the phone number out, in theory, the telemarketer must no longer call that phone number until they obtain it again within the defined scope of what is allowed. This means that the phone number should not recieve calls from telemarketers when you get it. However, the reality does not match the requirement. This is because telemarketers do not always download the Do Not Call list as required by law. Significant fines in the millions of dollars have resulted from this practice and continues to this day. Why? Because there is too much money to be made by ignoring the law.

Telemarketing and Consumer Fraud Abuse Prevention Act (TCPA)

The TCPA restricts robodialing and use of an artificial or prerecorded voice without the prior express consent of the recipient except in some limited cases.

Emergencies
Non-commerical use including not for profit organization, political solicitations, charities, and surveys.
Commercial use without an advertisement or telemarketing.
To collect a debt by the principle debt holder and not 3rd partys.
Health care.

The TCPA requires restrictions to calls.

Must give full disclosure as to who is calling, the phone number and address of the caller, any total charge to be applied, any restrictions of a sale, and any refund policy.
Sweepstakes and contests must disclose that no purchase is required, the odds of winning, and any cost of participation.
Cannot call before 8am or after 9pm.
Must obtain express and verifiable authorization before engaging in certain transactions such as payment processing.

The TSR, a part of the TCPA, does not apply to:

Most B2B (business to business) marketing.
Banks
Federal financial institutions.
Common carriers such as phone companies and airlines.
Insurance Companies
Non-Profits and Cahrities

I have already given my opinion of these carve-outs. They should not exist without your express permission.

States have additional regulations which you should be aware of that can help any case should you choose to file one. The state telemarketing regulations can be found here.

So what can you do about telemarketing?

There is little that can be done to effectively stop telemarketing except by law makers and service providers. But do not hold your breath that either will be willing to help you. Again, it is about the Benjamins. Lobbyists have the politicians in their pockets and service providers make money on both ends or at least see telemarketers as more profitable. So good luck. Still, there are some things you can do.

Sign up for the National Do Not Call Registry. This list is maintaind by the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) and will help keep honest telemarketer honest. It will not effect most calls these days.
Keep your information private. Restrict who you give your information out to and read all privacy agreements carefully.
Some service providers will allow you to opt-out of having your information sold.
Banks, insurance companies, and brokerage houses are specifically required to provide you with opt-out options as well.
Honest telemarketers will maintain their own do not call lists and allow you to opt-out.
Not all telemarkets are honest. Some will offer automated opt-out options and double their efforts as a "live" number. It is better to put your wishes in writting where you can.
Specify that you do not want calls from affiliated entities as well where you can.
File a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
File a complaint with your state authority. This is likely the states Attorney General. National Association of Attorneys General
Do not answer phone calls unless you recognize the phone number.
Do not allow telemarketers to leave a a message where possible.
Use a phone service or phone equipment with robust call blocking options.
Use a call blocker on cell phones.
Obfuscate any phone number posted online where possible.

Call Blockers

Call blockers are either small devices you can plug into your home phone line, or a cell phone app, or a phone system that contains call blocking options. Some may use a black-list service which may cost a monthly fee though not all. Some phone services, especially cell phone services, will include a call blocker. If you need a call blocker, I have created a list of home phone call blockers, call blocker apps for your cell phone, and phone systems that allow call blocking. All will require that caller ID is enabled on your phone.

I have no experience with these devices, apps, or phone systems and cannot endorse them except one. I am not affiliated with any call blocker. These lists are not exhaustive but a good start none-the-less.

Home Phone Call Blockers

These call blockers plug in between the wall and your home phone.

Call Blocker USA One of the most popular call blockers. Does not require a monthly fee.
Digitone
Call Control
HQTelecom
TeleSentry

Cell Phone Call Blockers

These call blockers are apps that you install on your smart phone. These do not work on flip phones.

Phone Systems

These are new home phone systems with call blocking features or Voice Over IP (VoIP) phone services with call blocking.

Ooma offers excellent call blocking options while providing excellent service. Ooma uses three black-lists and advanced options that can stop most calls dead in their tracks. I use Ooma and love it.

OomaAutomatic and manual call blocking. Ooma is a VoIP phone service that replaces your existing service provider. I use Ooma. I can eagerly vouch for this company.
PanasonicManual call blocking only.
AT&TAutomatic and manual call blocking.
VTechAutomatic and manual call blocking.

You have the right to be paid.

For every violation of the law, you have the right to be paid. This can be work and somewhat difficult to do, however, it is not impossible and could be a significant income for a period. For example, decades ago, I charged a company $200 per call after two warnings. They balked of course, but paid quickly when I cited the law and began reading off my call log. I got over $2000. Today, you can get at least $500 per violation and even more depending. You will want to keep a call log to prove your claim of abuse. Please know that spoofed caller IDs make it impossible to collect monies yourself. For that you will need a lawyer who specializes in these matters. They can often track down the original call to a real phone number.

I have no experience with any of these law firms and cannot endorse them. Please chose your attorney carefully.

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