TrapCall Service To Bypass Caller ID Blocking

cemaco writes in with news that TelTech, developers of the infamous SpoofCard service, have come out with something even more controversial: a set of services for revealing blocked caller ID numbers. The services take advantage of a loophole in the way caller ID blocking works — it has never been effective when calling an 800 number, because the recipient is paying for the call. So TelTech instructs you how to forward blocked calls (transparently) to their 800 number; the call comes back to your phone in seconds with the formerly hidden caller ID revealed. Advocacy groups for victims of domestic violence are concerned. Victims of annoying calls hiding behind caller ID blocking are rejoicing.

Comments

I don't get it ??

[OneSmartFellow]

Advocacy groups for victims of domestic violence are concerned

What about ?

Re:I don't get it ??

[Hyppy]

The "if you've got nothing to hide..." argument is quite the slippery slope. It's a bit authoritarian to criminalize everything you don't personally do or agree with yourself, isn't it?

Re:I don't get it ??

[Anonymous Coward]

yeah because battered women have just so much money to throw around on cell phones...most of them are so screwed financially that they spend a period of time in a shelter.

but the way that you put quotes around abuser shows where you really stand on this.

Re:I don't get it ??

[athos-mn]

We're concerned because most crisis call lines are not the phone bank you see on TV, but volunteers that work at home. As a crisis line volunteer, you want your home number blocked so that the client calls the crisis line and not you.

Some of the people we deal with aren't particularly stable and may try to latch on to the crisis worker - these, if they go into common use, could cause mental health issues for the users of crisis hotlines, AND the volunteers.

Re:I don't get it ??

[morgan_greywolf]

Actually, battered women's shelters and advocacy groups can help with this problem. They often actually buy victims throw-away cell phones for this purpose.

Re:I don't get it ??

[R2.0]

Although I agree with your sentiment about the OP's attitude, it is an unfortunate fact that protection orders are routinely used by the woman's lawyer in a divorce case. My brother in law is going through a really nasty divorce right now, which his wife initiated when his salary got drastically cut. The first thing she did was file for a protective order against him, on the grounds that she was "afraid" of him. It was granted immediately, since that is policy in most courts, and now he can't enter his own house. Meanwhile, she gets to strip the house of anything of value (like checkbooks, etc.) and he can do nothing about it. And as far as I know, the only "violence" he ever employed was on his high school football team.

Women like this play right into the "they're all lying" crowd, and reinforce the misogynistic views that some abusers have.

Blocking Caller ID illegal in some states

[kurt555gs]

The State of Michigan and I believe 6 other states passed laws written by the RIAA to make it a felony to mask your IP address. The laws were written so broadly though, that masking the information about any electronic identity would constitute a crime including caller ID.

Many states modified this before passage, but Michigan and several other states just passed the RIAA bill as submitted.

It is a class 3 felony to block caller ID in Michigan.

Thanks RIAA

Re:Yeah really

[hummassa]

If a battered wife wants to talk directly to her abusive husband, then she is absolutely stupid. Sorry. Battered wives should talk to abusive husband thru lawyers and police officers only.

ANI != Caller ID

[knorthern knight]

I can't believe the ignorance of the referenced article. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automatic_number_identification for an intelligent explanation of what's happening. The important part is...

>>>
Because ANI is unrelated to caller ID, the caller's telephone number and line type
are captured by ANI equipment even if caller ID blocking is activated. The destination
telephone company switching office can relay the originating telephone number to ANI
delivery services subscribers. Toll-free Inward WATS number subscribers and large
companies normally have access to ANI information, either instantly via installed
equipment, or from a monthly billing statement. Residential subscribers can obtain
access to ANI information through third party companies that charge for the service.
>>>

To summarize...

* There are 2 *TOTALLY UNRELATED* means of getting *THE NUMBER THAT IS CALLING YOU*

* Caller ID (technically CNID) sends the callers number during the ringing signal.
    Any outfit with their own PBX can send out whatever crap they want as CNID.
    That's how spoofing services work, and how telemarketers can fake CNID

* ANI (Automatic Number Identification) is billing information data. Spoofing that
    effectively constitutes fraud. And you can be certain that phone companies will
    do whatever is necessary to make sure their billing systems work . ANI is very
    difficult to spoof.

    Having said that, TrapCall can be beaten. Not spoofed, but beaten. ANI passes the number making the call. If you call via Skype, your call is forwarded to Skype, who then forwards the call to the destination. The destination gets Skype's billing data. This is technically correct, but useless for identifying the originator. Oh yeah, Skype pays connection charges at the receiving end, so don't expect them to freely work for 1-900 numbers. This is roughly equivalant to calling from New York to Los Angeles to ask your brother to pass on a message to someone in Atlanta. The person in Atlanta knows they got called by somebody from Los Angeles. This is technically correct, but doesn't let them know that the message originated from New York.

Re:Yeah really

[rhaas]

RTFA. It's court-mandated, they don't have a choice.

Re:Yeah really

[Anonymous Coward]

A battered wife may need to talk to a relative, call a place of work, someplace where the abuser can hunt down the phone number. I had an abuser who managed to get his hands on the cell phone of someone I knew, and got my number from their cell phone. Now my number is blocked. Now I am safe.

And as for the morons below who are complaining about the wanting to talk, well they have a lot to learn about spousal abuse, and the court systems, and reasons for calling. It's not the place to get into it, but guys, keep talking about the technology and not about things you know absolutely nothing about.

Re:Yeah really

[Shakrai]

Battered wives should talk to abusive husband thru lawyers, police officers and large caliber pistols only.

Fixed that for you ;)

Re:Yeah really

[Uncle Rummy]

Battered wives should talk to abusive husband thru lawyers, police officers and large caliber pistols only.

Fixed that for you ;)

I can't hear you! Don't fire the gun while you're talking!

Re:Yeah really

[A. B3ttik]

he number of people I wish to communicate with via voice is a single digit.

...And you can just yell up the basement stairs if you want to talk to her.