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Handling Caller ID Spoofing?

Posted by timothy on from the advocate-violence-in-this-case dept.

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?

5 of 556 comments (clear)

  1. Wire Fraud by Ice+Tiger · · Score: 5, Interesting

    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."
  2. I know who they are by Lookin4Trouble · · Score: 5, Interesting
    I had these assclowns call the emergency services number at my work with their auto-dialer. That number rings to a ton of desks and is SUPPOSED to spread info about a medical emergency in the building. It took a good bit of google-fu to track them via their spoofed caller ID.

    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.

  3. Re:Lawyer. by caluml · · Score: 5, Interesting

    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
  4. Re:Vigilante Justice ala Slashdot Anyone? by rcpitt · · Score: 5, Interesting

    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
  5. Re:Ouch by mosinu · · Score: 5, Interesting

    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.