Think You Can Trust What Your Caller ID Displays? Think Again!

Before the advent of Caller ID, when the phone rang we had no idea who was on the other end. Now with a technique known as Caller ID spoofing, you may still not know!

Many of us use caller identification service for the convenience of screening our calls, while others rely on it for much more important reasons.

There is absolutely no way to tell the difference between a spoofed call and a valid one—giving scam artists a huge advantage. The potential for harm is enormous.

Who Uses Caller ID Spoofing?

There are legitimate users of this type of service like investigators, law enforcement personnel and safe houses for women who are a victim of domestic violence. There are also scam artists who are trying to get you to give them personal information like a password, bank or credit card account number or maybe your Social Security Number—all to be able to steal your money or identity that could take years to clean up.

Scam artists are able to make it appear as though they are calling from any number or place of their choosing. They can even disguise their voice to make it appear to be someone of the opposite sex.

How Can You Protect Yourself?

The first thing is knowing that this technique exists and it's easily accessible and relatively inexpensive (some cases free) to anyone, especially criminals looking to take your hard-earned money in some way.

Banks and credit card companies already have all of your information on file and would never call to ask for your personal information under any circumstance—no matter how convincing. Never trust anyone on the other end of the phone asking you for information. Scam artists will say anything to get you to give them information they are seeking.

If you are in doubt whether or not the caller is who they say they are, hang up and call the company yourself. Don't call the number they give you, or the number that displays on your Caller ID. Use the phone book or the Internet to look up the number. Meanwhile, don't give them any information whatsoever.