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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?
Give us what you know about the scammer, though if you don't want to include the victimized phone number we can understand. Then just let Slashdot work its magic. The Scammers will be on their knees begging in no time...
Well good grief, the two exact entities who are supposed to take care of this kind of thing refuse, then just what is going on in this country?
I'd just call them both a few more times to see if there's anywhere to get, it's very clear laws have been broken.
"Most people, I think, don't even know what a rootkit is, so why should they care about it?"
Bring the news media in on it, somebody a little more mainstream than Slashdot.
Then start making threats, and if the phonecalls are inter-state commerce it is a federal issue. Back them up against a wall and force them to act.
Call local elected reps (state & federal) saying that you're unable to get anyone to deal with the issue. Call the FBI in DC as well. If she's getting interstate death threats, that's illegal and the FBI can call the people back. I've had good luck with my local FBI office (Ann Arbor) when I received an interstate death threat.
...why doesn't she just change her phone number?!
It surely seems like an easy solution to the problem, and she'll stop getting angry calls from random people. Not to mention the fact that the number will no longer be valid, and the spoofers will have to get a new number to fake. Though I wonder how they got her number in the first place. Someone randomly punch in numbers, or did they actually pick her out for some reason?
.. or she could hire - the A-TEAM!
The call can quite easily be traced back to where it came from -- even if it's voip in nature, at very least you can find the originating carrier and they can deal with their customer.
We run a very popular VoIP service (http://ironvoice.com) and tightly control caller id in a manner that still gives our customers flexibility but still imposes responsibility.
The FBI can certainly help, that's bogus. The phone company can certainly help, that's bogus as well. The phone company knows from which carrier the call came from and so on and so forth until they can pin down the offending carrier.
Legislation isn't the answer -- customer service is.
In Canada, we have a governing body similar to your FCC called the CRTC. Whenever we have such problems we can contact them and they'll conduct an investigation. So far I've put an end to three instances of harassing telemarketing / late night fax blitzing. I'd contact the FCC next, see what they have to say. Someone somewhere is in charge of moderating this...
You can use http://whocalled.us/ to coordinate investigation. Even though the number is spoofed, as long as they are using it consistently it is still an identifier. As everyone shares facts they discover it's possible to find the true identity.
Caller ID spoofing has become a real problem, but political representatives are too busy flashing around fake solutions to hyperinflated problems, like throwing more money at stopping the 9000 pedo penises from raping children over the internets.
If anyone has a technological solution, please post it, as we have more of a chance of fixing this stuff as engineers than the politicians do as legislators.
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."
I calle the FBI in Boston (near where she lives) and they said they can't help
Just tell them people are getting bomb threats... That should easily get this put on their #1 list and resolved in about 5 minutes tops. Isn't that why they phone tap everyone?
1) Have her set up an answering machine with a short explanation.
2) Get the mainstream media involved.
Trolling is a art,
Being in that situation I think I would be changing my number first thing -- if the problem is so bad that you are going to the FBI it's time to change the number and spare her the grief and stress from dealing with all the angry calls.
After that is done then it's time to try to sort out the problem from the source; as for what route one would take for that? I cannot be sure, but I do believe that the first course of action should be changing the number and making the calls stop.
I'd think the phone company should be kind enough to happily assist in that, since they're so unwilling to try to help solve the problem itself.
Well intentioned or not, those guys are fucking assholes.
About all I can do is have a nice conversation with the caller, explain the situation, and ask them to talk with the scammer next time and find out who they are. I volunteer that I have some employees in Afghanistan who, in exchange for a ticket home, will be happy to pay the bastards a visit.
Ibid.
You can try contacting your state's attorney. They're normally pretty helpful ... because most are elected (at least in my state anyway).
Come on its 2008, we can't just take such trifling things as an individuals vouching for someone and their previous good record. She SAYS that she didn't make the call, but what would she say if she was waterboarded? Would she stick to her story or switch it to admit that she did make all the calls?
Sure she claims that she doesn't want to change her number just because she has had it for 50 years, but couldn't that be because she co-ordinates a major terrorist cell of grandmas across america (known in intelligence circles as Al-Quilter)? These evil women are spreading hate through out of date sugary treats and a fondness for knowing everything that is going on in the world while comparing it unfavourably with their own personal ideology of "it was better when I was young". We must stop these pedallers of hate against modern American who condemn the US of A as going to hell in a hand cart and not the sort of country that they want to live in. Death to Al-Quilter
I say condemn her based on the irrefutable caller ID evidence.
Seriously though its good that this old dear has someone looking out for her because in modern America you could easily see her being prosecuted because of an unfortunate conjunction of evidence.
An Eye for an Eye will make the whole world blind - Gandhi
I'm guessing based on my own experience with calls from various phone scammers that they left a 1-800 call back number, right?
If thats the case, see if you can figure out who sold the 1-800 number. I have been dealing with annoying bogus credit counselors that won't stop calling and leaving their 1-800 numbers as callbacks. There are some good resources for this stuff online that may be able to help you find the company who sold the number - they are sold similarly to web domains, though without any obligation to anyone to release the data on who has it.
Damn_registrars has no butt-hole. Damn_registrars has no use for a butt-hole.
Why not, for the immediate future, setup her voicemail to answer after 1 ring, and set the voicemail message to something like "This phone number is being falsely used by a telemarketing company as their caller ID. Please call your local phone company and tell them you have received a telemarketing call using an hijacked caller ID entry.". If you can find out the actual company doing it, I'd throw their real phone number and company name in their too, just for good measure. At the very least, people will know not to leave a nice elderly lady death threats, and hopefully your phone company will take notice and track down the offending telemarketers and cut their "lines" off. I'd bet the voicemail volume drops significantly, legitimate ones get through and leave a message, and you'll probably hear a few less death threats against grandma.
Wisest is he who knows he does not know.
I'd call the FBI and the telephone company again. Be firm but polite when asking for help. Get names and phone numbers of everyone you talk to. If that person says no, ask for the next person up in the chain of command.
Oftentimes, people just don't know how to ask for help correctly when contacting an agency such as the FBI or telephone company. If she can't clearly articulate the problem to the person on the other end of the phone they simply might not be aware of the issue or its ramifications.
If you're able to clearly articulate the issue and still get denied, start writing letters. To the SAC of the local FBI office, or as high up as you can go to the telco. And as others suggested, contact the media: the local newspaper omsbudman, the local TV station's investigative reporter. And also as others have suggested contact your local elected representatives.
I'm not defending the FBI or phone company, but I've seen instances where a problem simply isn't stated clearly enough for the other party to understand what's going on. So the first thing to do is ensure that when the FBI and telco are involved, that the problem is stated in correct terms (and that you're talking to the proper person in the organization).
She should start providing a car warranty if she wants to keep her phone number.
Asking to be removed doesn't work.
Citing the do not call list doesn't work. They laugh.
Telling the male calling, in my deepest voice, that he sounds cute and I want his home number, THAT seems to work. Especially on the ones with southern accents.
I wonder what would happen if everyone started propositioning these callers for 'favors'.
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.
The phone companies shall have so called call data records, often declared as CDR:s. These provide information about the calls made to/from a certain number. Using these records it is possible to back-track the phone call to the originating operator. The phone companies have a lot of information available to allow for tracking, but since it requires a lot of work to dig through the data they are very reluctant to do so.
Another way is to catch on to the caller and check who purchased their service and then follow the money trail.
Unfortunately it is possible that the caller that spoofs the number is offshore somewhere.
And if the FBI won't help, I suggest that you also check other channels of law enforcement and keep everything in writing so that you have a history to refer to. Taking help from a lawyer may be one way to continue this. It's always interesting if you can get in touch with the right lawyer who knows which buttons to push to get some results.
If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker would destroy civilization.
"She's terrified. Some well-intending anti-telemarketing folks have posted her address on the 'net as well. "
Welcome to vigilante justice. I wonder how many folks on slashdot think that posting peoples address like this on the Internet is a good idea?
Well I am sure that if it was a real scammer then it would be okay...
Until you make a mistake.
Call the police, then the news, then your elected reps...
They need to hunt these idiots down.
Both the scammers and the ones that are calling this lady.
See my blog http://ilovecookes.blogspot.com/ for light hearted technical information.
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"
They love to make themselves look good with stuff like this. They'll get the FBI hopping. Caller ID spoofing is fraud, and it's prosecutable.
"Who is the Journal of Quantum Physics going to believe?" --Stephen Hawking
I've gotten several of these calls as well, which I started receiving shortly after I took my vehicle in to a dealership to be serviced. It may be coincidental, but I suspect not. Anyway, the numbers were always had spoofed caller id numbers, but it was the same warranty 'company' every time. The people on the other line refused to give you any information whether it be phone numbers, physical location, etc. I asked several times to be taken off their list. My cell phone provider (T-Mobile) said there was nothing they could do, even though these calls were illegal.
I stopped receiving these calls after awhile, I'm guessing this particular company moved on or got busted. Frankly, it's about time we had some ability as consumers to deal with this sort of fraud. The do-not-call laws do absolutely no good if these guys can spoof their numbers to get around being traced.
http://www.policystew.com/
if she can find them.
This signature is a waste of 42 characters
"I pity the fool who scam ol' ladies, pretendin' t'be ol' ladies. Murdock! Git off the phone, fool!"
This probably won't help, since telemarketers probably wouldn't call VoIP DIDs, especially if they are doing sketchy stuff like this. However, if you're receiving their calls and happen to be using a SIP phone, this comment is for you. I don't know of how people would mask their caller ID on a normal land line. Of course people can get those caller ID spoof cards, but where are they calling when they call those numbers? Chances are, it's a VoIP service. If someone who has a SIP phone is called by these telemarketers, they may be able to retrieve their real caller ID. Unless the telemarketers really know what they're doing, they probably only changed the caller ID field in the SIP header, and didn't touch the P-Asserted-Identity field. Using asterisk, one can obtain the caller ID out of the P-Asserted-Identity field like this, before having the phone ring of course: exten => s,1,Set(passertedid=${SIP_HEADER(P-Asserted-Identity)}) exten => s,2,Set(CALLERID(all)=${CUT(passertedid,@,1):5})
In my experience, everything about cellular is a rip off. They need to be regulated by consumer advocacy and engineers - not payola politicians. If we pass laws that make them PAY I bet they'll figure out how to handle all those FREE MINUTES before its streamed to the Fed's data mine. Face it people, Cellular somehow accounts for every dollar that they steal from us on 2 year "contracts". If they have to pay, then they'll fix it, yesterday! Lets fire up some torches angry villagers !!
little old ladies are always calling me
no seriously. the best i can make out from the odd chats i've had with various little old ladies over the years is that my number was previously owned by a high end and antique pen dealership. that explains the demographics of the calls i get. an occasional little old man, sure, but mostly little old ladies make up the customer base for fine crafted pens
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
we need an angry mob to find these car warranty robo-caller bitches and give them hell.
Yaknow ... I used to get a few these calls per week. One of the OP states that they laugh at you if you mention the DNC, or ask to be removed from their call list which is my experience as well.
I have not been called since I asked for extended warranty on my '72 Dodge Dart. Seems they realized I was going to be a dick, and stopped calling.
YMMV.
WEST LOS ANGELES
12923 Venice Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90066
(On Venice Blvd. between Lincoln and Beethoven,
across the street from Venice High School)
Phone (310) 358-7000
(800) 464-5446
Fax (310) 437-4105
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.
Dosn't matter a bit FBI? CIA? RGB? TFB?
If she was getting call backs, she should tell EVERY ONE WHO CALLS, AWS are scammers, and they should register with the FTC: and START Signed and dated PHONE LOGS. Every one I hear gets these phone calls, I show them the origional post card that started it all, and my phone log. I have clued in about 20 people, and we have filed over 15 reports for illegal telemarketing contact, i.e. Dont call EVER, and ... they ... call @ $500 per complaint.
http://www.ftc.gov/
Scammer name:
Automotive Warranty Solutions
6501 congress ave, ste 140, boca raton, fl 33487
877-700-5880,
Call their 800 number, and ask to be put on their do not call list. ( just everone call plz )
This is a Attorney General who is taking this problem seriously. ( Note: California and Florida are probibly NOT ):
http://www.ct.gov/AG/cwp/view.asp?A=2795&Q=411422
a blogger who did a lot of flatfoot work:
http://www.markturner.net/2007/11/08/car-warranty-scam-continued/
Remember: REMEMBER! Documented phone logs make diffrence. If you can document DNC and the call back time and date. Give them a call and get on their DNC list ANYWAY. So when they do call...
Continue advocating the phase out of the legacy telephone system with its unreliable caller id info. The ideal way this stuff should work, is that if the incoming connection request isn't OpenPGP-signed by someone you have some sort of WoT path to, then you don't know who it is.
We've had the tech to solve The Big Authentication Problem for a couple decades now (thanks, Phil!). We just need to start using it, for voice, email, etc.
You are giving them too much credit. Caller ID is widely known, even to many laymen now, to be unreliable. (And someone who makes a point of going after scammers has little excuse for being behind the curve on this.) They don't really have strong reason to believe she is the scammer. To do such a thing without checking their facts is irresponsible and possibly libelous. I wouldn't sugarcoat their actions.
As copyright owner of this comment, I authorize everyone to defeat any technological measure which limits access to it.
The US Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation passed S. 704, a bill that would make it a crime to spoof caller ID.
Dubbed the "Truth in Caller ID Act of 2007," the bill would outlaw causing "any caller identification service to transmit misleading or inaccurate caller identification information" via "any telecommunications service or IP-enabled voice service." Law enforcement is exempted from the rule.
Specifically these sections:
SEC. 2. PROHIBITION REGARDING MANIPULATION OF CALLER IDENTIFICATION INFORMATION.
Section 227 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 227) is amended -
(1) by redesignating subsections (e), (f), and (g) as subsections (f), (g), and (h), respectively; and
(2) by inserting after subsection (d) the following new subsection:
`(e) Prohibition on Provision of Inaccurate Caller Identification Information. -
`(1) IN GENERAL - It shall be unlawful for any person within the United States, in connection with any telecommunications service or IP-enabled voice service, to cause any caller identification service to knowingly transmit misleading or inaccurate caller identification information with the intent to defraud, cause harm, or wrongfully obtain anything of value, unless such transmission is exempted pursuant to paragraph (3)(B).
`(3) REGULATIONS -
`(A) IN GENERAL - Not later than 6 months after the enactment of this subsection, the Commission shall prescribe regulations to implement this subsection.
`(B) CONTENT OF REGULATIONS -
`(i) IN GENERAL - The regulations required under subparagraph (A) shall include such exemptions from the prohibition under paragraph (1) as the Commission determines is appropriate.
`(ii) SPECIFIC EXEMPTION FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES OR COURT ORDERS - The regulations required under subparagraph (A) shall exempt from the prohibition under paragraph (1) transmissions in connection with -
`(I) any authorized activity of a law enforcement agency; or
`(II) a court order that specifically authorizes the use of caller identification manipulation.
Law enforcement is negligent if they fail to take action. IMO - If the Law doesn't work, the local newspaper and/or television station might get the ball rolling.
To avoid corruption, one must remain dishonest.
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!
First off, I like the idea of intercepting this with an auto attendant, I think that's the simplest and most important thing you can do in the short term. I think you could ask your local telco if they can put an intercept message on the line - that should be completely possible. If not, look for some kind of device that will pick up, play back a recorded message, then pass the call on to the phone. A service like this would work well but costs money:
http://www.americanvoicemail.com/autoattendant.html
Or, you can probably do some call forwarding tricks, but that will require switching the number to a different carrier because a regular 1FR line won't do the necessary tricks.
Oh, and some idiot on this forum is going to suggest doing some tricks with Asterisk - ignore them because it's 20 times more work than you need to do and in the end it's just going to confuse her.
To really nab these guys, you're going to need to some how trace it back to the origin, and that's going to be damn hard. If you can't get a callback number to trace it with, then it would be nice if you could some how get ANI (automatic number identification) information. And that could be possible. Do it this way: find an agreeable caller who'll work to help nab this guy. Then get them to go to their telco and request their phone records get pulled and the ANI from the phone call retrieved. Then go to the telco's with that ANI and find out who owns it. Anyone can spoof caller ID, but it takes some real magic to spoof ANI. (Unfortunately some carriers toss away ANI records and translate caller ID to ANI, so be careful. It may take a few interations to get that info.)
Now, that's still probably not going to work. I have no doubt these guys are offshore and using a VOIP box (probably Asterisk, lol). The VOIP calls terminate to a VOIP carrier in the US with an account that was set up under some fraudulent information. Then that VOIP carrier is peered with the real telco's via some regular old PRI's and that's the ANI information you'll get. However, I have no doubt that somewhere, some how a bill is generated and paid for, so if you can get to the VOIP carrier, you might be able to track this down.
----- obSig
You've never worked in customer service, have you? In call centres especially, that little hold button is so useful when a caller starts getting abusive, as is the release button. I have released calls before when customers start shouting at me for no reason. One even took it upon himself to sue the company, and was ordered to pay our legal fees when our lawyers played the recording before the courts.
And if you do it in person, you need to understand that the newspaper is private property and they can have you escorted off the premises if you get abusive, and they can have you arrested if you don't cooperate with that. And the FBI and police are both law enforcement agencies, and they can throw you in jail for being abusive to them.
You get much farther when dealing with customer service if you are reasonable. A wise man once said... speak softly and carry a big stick. Be reasonable. Don't be abusive. And if you can't get anywhere over the phone, send a letter. Around here, at least, corporations are required, by law, to provide their mailing address when asked.
If you believe everything you read, you'd better not read. - Japanese proverb
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!
Then you mention something about fava beans.
The Christian Right is Neither (Christian nor right). See: Matthew 23, Matthew 25, Ezekiel 16:48-50
The same reason we don't have a reliable traceback system for email...
Security wasn't a concern when it was designed.
There is a hardware product (google "Caller ID Manager") that costs about $100 which can enable white-list filtering on her phone. White list filtering means she enters a list of phone numbers she wants to ring through. Numbers not on her white list go either to voicemail or just get lost. This box wouldn't stop angry strangers from leaving a message, but it would stop them from ringing her phone.
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.
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.
The people suggesting "call the media" are not wanting the media on the scammers. They're wanting the media on the law enforcement officials so they will go after the scammers.
upon the advice of my lawyer, i have no sig at this time
So am I the only one that sees the irony in having a banner ad for a product that lets you "FAKE your Caller ID" on a discussion about how bad that is and how to stop it?
I would contact your State Attorney General's office. The terminating and transit carriers rely on originating carrier to pass the originating number. The terminating and transit carriers may have event records which provides a trunk ID which may indicate what network passed the call to the terminating carrier. If each transit carrier has the same type of record you may eventually identify the originating carrier. Then the originating carrier can search their records for the terminating number and that may identify the source. This assumes you can convince each carrier in the link to provide records (which may not exist) and may get lucky and identify the source. This works whether VoIP or circuits are used if the carriers keep records. After all that you may find the source to be worthless (prepaid phone or international location for example). Since the source is telemarketing calls I suspect they have a brick and mortar building somewhere.
A CDR may or may not have accurate information as to the source of the call. If the call is entirely local (the LEC handles call termination on both ends as well as transit), then it should have all the information. However, if the call transits a different carrier, then the LEC that handles termination for the target of the scammer only knows the caller ID that was passed to it from the transit carrier. If it's unknown, then that's what is passed into the CDR. You may be able to glean other source information about the handoff to the transit carrier, then get THEM involved to find the call that was routed to that handoff at that time, and so on.
Oh, and since those aren't her calls (the scammer wasn't calling HER), then you must have a subpoena. If one of the scam targets cooperates, then THEY might be able to request their own records, but to get intervening carriers to cooperate, you'll need a lawyer or law enforcement. I'd try the latter, first. Keywords like "terroristic threats" and such may get you some attention. Once you know it crosses state lines, and perhaps some idea of how wide sweeping the scope is, then you might have something the FBI can/will look at. Try your local state bureau of investigation first, as they may have more immediate resources.
Ob. disclaimer: Though employed in telecom, I am not a lawyer.
Dump the IRS - http://www.fairtax.org
Phone companies should read the caller ID information from outbound calls from their customers and block the call if the caller ID doesn't match.
The lady could setup a voice menu explaining that she isn't responsible for those calls, and press 1 if they want to ring through. That should eliminate some of the calls.
Any sufficiently unpopular but cohesive argument is indistinguishable from trolling.
I've got AT&T on the home phone and I'm required to enter a password when I try to check my voicemail from the home phone.
Maybe it's a regional thing (I was originally a BellSouth customer).
*sigh* back to work...
However, if the call transits a different carrier, then the LEC that handles termination for the target of the scammer only knows the caller ID that was passed to it from the transit carrier.
That's not entirely accurate. ANI exists separately from caller id and is generally much harder to spoof. The LEC probably has access to this information -- whether or not they will share it with you sans subpoena is another matter altogether.....
I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
on my voice mail it says to "enter your password followed by the # key" but if you're calling from the number associated by the account you can simply press "#" and get your voice mail... it doesn't say it on the message but that's how it works.
Collector's Edition
More to the point...is there actually anything ILLEGAL at all about spoofing a caller ID number? I don't know of any laws that require you to give out by any means, the phone number you are calling from.
Since there is no fraud being committed here as far as I can tell, I'm guessing there actually is no crime being committed here...at least in the US?
Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
Varies by corporation. Part of my job is to read those letters. I read every single one of them, in English and in French, that gets sent to us, and I decide what, if any, action is needed on them. And I see too it that when action is required, it gets done. That means ensuring that customers are given the service to which they have a right, but it also means protecting the company's interests... generally, as long as your request is reasonable, I have a lot of authority to help you. But there has to be some compromise... if you're demanding that I replace your product years after you bought it because you dropped it off a balcony, and you're threatening to sue us if I don't (a request I got last week), my response is going to be an invitation to bring it on.
And I know for a fact that everybody who answers the phone knows exactly where to find information like our corporate mailing address so they can give it with minimum fuss when asked. Hell, it's on the transfer list of extensions we give to our operators, so you can call our toll free, press zero, and the first person who answers can give you our mailing address without any fuss. They've got our Canada head office contact information in Toronto, and they've got our Global head office contact information in the states, and they know exactly where to go on the intranet to find addresses for any of our global offices: it's part of their initial training.
That, again, varies by company. If you're not getting anywhere on the phone, you have a right to be frustrated. You're even entitled to raise your voice. But if you start to take those frustrations out on the person who's trying to help you as best they can, then our customer care, technical support, and sales teams are allowed to hang up on you. They are told, point blank, that they're not being paid to take abuse, and if they feel that you're abusing them, then it's at their discretion whether or not you've crossed the line. You get one warning, and then you get disconnected. And I've never seen anybody get fired over it... I've actually only ever seen one person get coaching on his call mangement skills. Management is there to protect the employees first. I've been with the company quite some time... I started in the sales department, and now I'm in customer relations. If you are wasting my time, and we are getting nowhere, I will tell you point blank: "these are your options, which do you want me to do?" If you don't take one of the options given, then I will tell you that at this point, there is nothing more to discuss, and I will hang up on you. We've actually severed business relations with customers rather than reverse my decisions on matters like that, too, at which point if they ever call again, they will be told "We choose not to do business with you, have a nice day." and be hung up on.
So be very careful who you yell at, because there are consequences.
If you believe everything you read, you'd better not read. - Japanese proverb
Yeah, that's the worst problem we face in America today.
It is. Not bogus phone calls, mind you. But governmental apathy. The system doesn't care about the so called "little people" anymore.
If it was the mayor of a big town, or a chief of police, or a congressman that was being harassed in this way the FBI would be all over it - and you know it.
Weaselmancer
rediculous.
That might get the FBI's attention, but try the locals first.
And the locals are the starting point for this problem too. If the scammers are next door, then there's no jurisdiction for the FBI.
You mentioned you're in the Boston area. Why not try "Help me Hank" - Channel 7's investigative reporter.
I've asked, they said it could not be changed.
Actually, I am sure that ANI is what is being spoofed here. (I have received calls from the same group myself.) ANI can be spoofed if the originating carrier allows, which is common practice for high-volume outbound automated calling campaigns. It is usually used legitimately to provide a number via which the called party can call back later if they miss the call or are disconnected.
(I work for a company which legitimately performs this sort of high-volume outbound calling.)
One other thing to note - this is actually the jursidiction of the FCC, not the FBI (at least not yet). As soon as you can prove that there is some sort of actual fraud going on beyond just violating FCC rules, then they might get involved.
There are two "caller-id" fields that are sent in SS7 (the out-of-band signaling that occurs between telcos) -- the BTN (Bill To Number), and the CPN (Calling Party Number). The BTN refers to the actual carrier, and account number that is placing the call, and the CPN is what is displayed by consumer Caller-ID units.
Large customers who have direct access to SS7 information over ISDN would be able to pick up the BTN, which would identify, at the very worst, the caller's local exchange carrier.
The phone companies are not allowed to reveal the BTN to a consumer or police agency without a signed subpoena by a judge with jurisdiction of the crime. The only exception to the rule seems to be the whitehouse, but that is a different matter all together. There are direct FCC violations to reveal that information without the proper paperwork.
As far as the lady keeping her phone number, that is akin to somebody keeping their credit card number after fraud. Yes, it is the number that she has had for years, and its the number that everybody knows, but in all honesty, the number is black listed now. She hasn't had the number for 50 years, as in the 70's going into the 80's NuStar renumber all the phone numbers from 4,5, and 6 digits to 10 digit numbers.
You can't just "file a lawsuit," you have to allege some particular violation of civil law.
Not in the U.S.
\x72\x6D\x20\x2D\x72\x66
Defamation of character. These people think SHE is calling them. They are pretending to be her by calling "from" her number.
It's to the point where SHE is getting harassed and getting death threats. I think a judge would allow the discovery.
Caller ID spoofing comprises a number of TCPA violations, most of which have explicit civil penalties.
you mean if, for example, you were running for VP and your email account was broken into?
The telco can transmit the caller ID info anyway, because they have no "intent to defraud, cause harm, or wrongfully obtain anything of value". Instead, this qualification should be removed so that the telco itself is disallowed to transmit a caller ID that is wrong. They have the means to determine if it is wrong (at least the first telco the caller is serviced by).
now we need to go OSS in diesel cars
It doesn't use Caller ID, it uses ANI, which is not the same thing.
I'm a call center engineer. Call center agents often use ANI as once point of caller authentication.
Most calling systems (eg. ACDs and PBXs) can insert any caller ID information with an outbound call, which is usually used to send out the generic 800 number for a company, but unfortunately it sometimes gets set to some poor old ladies home phone number.
$7.95/mo, 200 GB disk, 2TBxfer, MySQL, PHP, RoR.
A perfect example. Hacking a Yahoo account is fairly trivial. It was some 20 year old kid that just did some simple password guessing.
And of course, the FBI came down on him like a ton of bricks.
I wonder if someone illegally gained access to my email account if they would even notice. I'm guessing not.
Weaselmancer
rediculous.