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Handling Caller ID Spoofing?
An anonymous reader writes "A nice little old lady I know has had her number spoofed by some car warranty scammers. They're calling hundreds of potential victims per day pretending to use her phone number, and the angry ones call her back; some of them have even left death threats. She's terrified. Some well-intending anti-telemarketing folks have posted her address on the 'net as well. How can we figure out where these scammer bastards are, and what's the state of the current legislation to prevent caller ID spoofing? I called the FBI in Boston (near where she lives) and they said they can't help. She's called her phone company, but they said they can't help either. She's had the same number for over 50 years and doesn't want to change it." If the Feds can't or won't handle it, what's the best approach here?
Doesn't this count as wire fraud?
Mind you this practice will get attention when the numbers used are not those of citizens but those used by government lobbying corporations.
"Because we are not employing at entry level, offshoring will kill our industry stone dead."
1) Have her set up an answering machine with a short explanation.
2) Get the mainstream media involved.
Trolling is a art,
You're looking for:
Digitcom Services, Inc.
12923 Venice Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90066
Phone (310) 358-7000
TollFree(800) 464-5446
Fax (310) 437-4105
Please note: I am not posting this so you can pester, annoy, harass, or threaten them. If you call, call once, speak to their manager, and politely let them know what you think about their business practices. What you do with this is up to you, I hold no responsibilty for the actions of others.
and told others what i did and surmised later that i don't know HOW close i was to being potentially arrested.
See, i'd been ripped off, losing a sizable chunk of money by a scammer in 2001/2002. I was laid off, had a mortgage, was desperate, and when you've been unhirable for almost a year, and burning down your vested stocks because some CEO got a bonus to lay you off when that bonus (several $10s of millions from what i heard) could have kept me and others employed for a few more months), your world starts to implode.
So, i gambled (and lost) some $700 on an asshole who made a dumbass out of me. He promised (IIRC in writing as well as verbally) to return my investment if in 30 days (or so) i wanted to cancel my involvement. He dragged my ass out for weeks past that time, and then I called the FBI. I suggested this guy, one Anthony Brown (who claimed to have contacts at Cisco and ohter places, and claimed he was having meetings at times at their Milpitas location), might be doing this in an interstate manner. I was told they couldn't do anything. The local police in the Sacramento & San Joaquin areas couldn't help either. I suggested to the FBI agent that if they or law enforcement couldn't help me that I should probably find some criminals who would not take kindly to being ripped off, and that I should make an appointment with Mr. Brown (if that was even his real name and real ID), and "steer" him toward some mob or gangster types who would probably also not know Brown was a bottom-feeding piece of scum about to meet his Hell on Earth. I actually wanted BLOOD. I wanted to KILL that m'f'r, as $700 was a serious amount of money to take, STEAL, from someone whose world was already on fire. So, if he actually took their money, and then fucked THEM, he'd be sorry he ever met me or them.
The FBI agent responded, "You're calling the *FBI* with a question like THAT?" Then he paused, giving me a hint i better hang up.
I hung up. Later, friends and family helped me out a little more, but it is a shame that vigilantism is/can be illegal.
My advice: If your world is on fire and you get involved with anybody who is going to get money from you, get their fingerprints off a restaurant glass, a writing pin from which you can lift the prints with cello tape, or something. Make him/her sign YOUR documents that their ass is voluntarily on a hook to YOU since their exploiting your pitiful situation. But, then if you're that smart, you might not be in my "hindsight is 20/20" situation.
Previously: "Linux... Toward the Sunrise..." Now: "Linux... Toward the-- No, now, part of Every Sunrise"
As a bemused observer from the UK, it seems strange to me that two of the methods offered here are "contact the media", or "get a lawyer".
I leave it to others to decide what this says about the US.
Get your own free personal location tracker
Since the spoofed calls are not coming to her number the records will only show the angry folks who are getting scammed. It is their phone records that will indicate the source. Purchase a call screening device ($60) and block calls from out of the area or any unrecognized number. Most machines allow you to use both a white list of good numbers a priority list of close friends and a rejection list that would include anyone else. We were getting a lot of drunks calling late at night waking us in a panic. We put a "caller ID with ring control" on the line and have not had a single unknown phone call. We have not had anyone we white listed blocked. So its a cheap answer to the problem.
You could fix the "who cares" part by forwarding calls to her number to the FBI or your local phone company.
You are using English. Please learn the difference between loose and lose; they're, there, and their; your and you're.
I'm a marketing consultant and I've dealt with the auto warranty industry extensively. We (they) have recently started a new watch-dog group called the Automotive Warranty and Service Contract Association, and one of their purposes is to stop the "robo-calling" and caller ID spoofing. Have your friend send an email to Larry Hecker, Executive Director of AWSCA. His email is [his first name] at warrantybestpractices dot com. Good luck!
Brings to mind a somewhat similar "Vigilante Justice" story from the past. Irnalee Stohrs' phone number was inadvertently printed as the contact number on a bunch of summons from the local Juvenile court - only after people from all over the country started phoning the court would they (the court) do something about this flood of calls the poor lady was getting. Read the story from Comp.Dcom.Telecom Usenet group 1990 postings Maybe the "proper authorities" need something like this to open their eyes too.
Been there, done that, paid for the T-shirt
and didn't get it
I know how this old lady feels. .. i thought it might be a scam, but fell for giving my routing number, and said no to the coupons. they still trying to take my money, luckily i didnt have $400 in my account :)
It sucks to be violated by some punks that dont even know you.
I had some people call about my student loan and said they had a federal rebate for me, all i had to do is give them a routing number to my bank account. and then they started trying to get me to say yes on a recorded call to saying they could take $400 dollars for a bunch of coupons
After me being a dumbass i called the State attorney General and they told me to call the FBI. The FBI said it happens all the time and there isnt anything they can do, cuz they cant find them.
I think this is why its such a big problem, no one wants to handle it, the FBI just says, sorry no my problem, and the crooks prolly know this!
Go go Gadget Nailgun!
She could file a john doe lawsuit and get the CDRs via subpoena ala RIAA and then sue the telemarketers for damages.
$7.95/mo, 200 GB disk, 2TBxfer, MySQL, PHP, RoR.
You could fix the "who cares" part by forwarding calls to her number to the FBI or your local phone company.
Careful with that... I got my hand slapped by the FBI once because they wouldn't do anything so I redirected all the traffic I was complaining about to them. Took them 2 weeks but they had me hauled before a Federal Judge to tell me to stop. The judge vacated the charges on my promise to stop redirecting traffic.
I know that the way AT&T is set up, if you call a call phone and your caller ID is the number for that cell, it will not ask you for a password to check the voicemail. I've mentioned it numerous times to CSRs but they really don't seem to care. Seems like a pretty big security hole.
Call and ask to speak to Herman Moore (the head of customer relations). Let him know that you received an unsolicited call regarding vehicle warranties, and that you'd like the calls to stop. He'll give you the (866) "opt-out" number that digitcom uses.
E
You mentioned you're in the Boston area. Why not try "Help me Hank" - Channel 7's investigative reporter.