Call Spoofing or Caller Id Spoofing is another trick that spammers used to trick people by making fake calls. With this trick, a person can make a call that may appear to come from a fake number he decides. Cybercriminals can use this to make abusive and threatening calls with fake numbers. The victim will blame the number owner for that call. Think how harmful it can be if the cybercriminal has used your number for any criminal activity. In this post, we will see what is Call spoofing, how to make spoofed calls, and how to protect yourself.
What is Call Spoofing
Call Spoofing is also called “Caller ID spoofing” because it deals with caller id. When someone calls you, your mobile phone or landline phone with caller Id displays the caller’s number (along with the name if the number is saved in contacts). In Call Spoofing, a person tries to fake calls with the wrong caller ID. So, a call may appear to come from any fake number that may or may not exist. A person can call you from any number he wants to display on caller id.
The first caller ID spoofing service came into existence back in 2004. It was star38.com. It was the first website that offered people to make calls with fake caller IDs. But this site could only run for a year. After that, many sites came into existence and now we have more than 100 websites offering similar kinds of services.
This can be seen as email spoofing in which emails are sent in a way that appears to come from any email id sender want to show.
How to Make Spoof Calls or Fake Calls
There are many online services available that allow users to make a limited number of spoofed calls for free. If you want to make more spoofed calls, you need to pay a few bucks. But this is affordable. See these services to make a spoof call.
These services are easy to use. You only need to enter the source number, destination number, and caller id number. And then make calls. There are also a few free call spoofing websites.
Although, cyber crime police try to shut down all these kinds of websites that may be used in cyber crimes. But there are many still exist. There are many popular websites that have been blocked by officials.
Why Attackers use Call Spoofing
Attackers can use call spoofing for many cyber crimes. These may be the main reasons.
- Making abusive or threatening calls.
- Making calls from bank numbers to ask for users’ personal banking details.
- Marketing companies use this to fake a number and show that the call is from your local area. And then trick users to sell their services.
Most fraud people use spoof calls to perform bank frauds. So, you must take care and know how to protect yourself. In history, various incidents have been recorded related to call spoofing.
How to Protect Yourself From Caller Spoofing Attacks
People trust Caller IDs and there is no foolproof method to prevent spoofed calls. But there are a few ways that you can follow if you are not sure about the call and think that it may be fake.
- Never give any personal and secret information over the phone. If the call is claiming to come from the bank, never give your personal banking details and banking passwords.
- If you are not sure, hang up the call and call them back.
- Never put all trust in Caller Id, if you are receiving abusive or threatening calls call back to verify if the call was from the number it was showing.
You should know that performing caller ID spoofing or making spoof calls is against the law. If you face any issue related to this, you should contact law enforcement and report this crime.
If you have any queries, you can ask via comments.
