Caller ID spoofing

I ran across a story from the great state of Delaware this morning where there is a guy who is saying that he is from the federal district court and harrassing people. Why did people think it was legitimate? Well, because the caller ID made it look like it came from a government telephone. I really didn't know people could do that.

As I was doing more research on this, I had no idea that what is being termed, "Caller ID Spoofing," is becoming a real problem around the country. I found an article from USAToday.com in which a congressman was being accused of harrassing his own constituents over the phone because they saw the number from his office.

In the last few years, Caller ID spoofing has become much easier. Millions of people have Internet telephone equipment that can be set to make any number appear on a Caller ID system. And several websites have sprung up to provide Caller ID spoofing services, eliminating the need for any special hardware.

For instance, Spoofcard.com sells a virtual "calling card" for $10 that provides 60 minutes of talk time. The user dials a toll-free number, then keys in the destination number and the Caller ID number to display. The service also provides optional voice scrambling, to make the caller sound like someone of the opposite sex.

Yeesh! That's scary. So, now I can't even trust what the caller ID says? Wasn't that the entire point of this service? I guess when new technology comes along, there is always those out there who will try to exploit it. For a pretty good news report from Chicago describing the problem, see the video above, or click here.