What is Caller ID Spoofing?

Caller Identification or “Caller ID” allows you to identify a caller before you answer your telephone. It is an optional telephone service, available from Midcontinent for an additional monthly fee. A caller’s number and/or name are displayed either on your phone (if your phone has this feature) or on an external display unit that you can buy separately. The number and/or name will appear on the display unit or on your phone after the first ring. This service also lets you identify yourself to the person you are calling.
 

Caller ID service, however, is susceptible to fraud. Using a practice known as “Caller ID Spoofing,” disreputable parties can deliberately falsify the telephone number relayed as the Caller ID number to disguise the identity and originator of the call. Congress is currently (2010) considering new laws that would make this practice a crime and permit law enforcement authorities to take action against spoofers.
 

 

For more information visit:

http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/callerid.html

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