8 April 2008 4:10 pm
Caller ID may not be telling you the truth.
Posted by Robert under: Security .
I was recently reading an article in a trade magazine that made me get really uneasy after considering all of the ramifications. The topic to which I’m referring is the use of Caller ID Service. A service that almost everyone subscribes to at home and now use quite a bit in our business. We think because its a service provided from the phone company that when the calling party’s name and number show up on our phone - that must be who is calling. NOT ANY MORE.
By the way - this is actually old news. KMBC9 in Kansas City did a segment on this May 23, 2006. Click here to watch the video. There are a number of Caller ID spoofing services cropping up on the Internet. I Googled “caller id spoofing” and came up with over 77,000 links to services, articles on the topic, and how to use it. For as little as $10, I can purchase a service which would allow me to call an 800 number, enter in the number of the party I would like to call and enter the number that I want to show up on their Caller ID and the call is dialed. When the party looks at their phone’s Caller ID, it shows the spoofed number. Scary. By the way included in that $10 service is also the ability to have you voice disguised as male or female plus you can have the call recorded. Some might ask why I publish this information? There are people using this for illegal purposes. You need to know and be aware of it. You need to have this in the back of your mind when you’re doing business with anyone over the phone, especially someone you have never met.
So here’s the take away. If you get a call from your bank or insurance company and they begin asking you questions about your personal business - do not simply rely on Caller ID to prove their authenticity. Ask for a number to call back. Tell them you’re busy and have to get the information together. If it is a legitimate call, the caller will understand your caution and be happy to let you call them back. If the caller becomes pushy saying that it will only take a minute or some other forceful tactic simply hang up. I would then call the institution to report the attempt. This is referred to as social engineering and the growing use of Caller ID Spoofing is just another way to trick you out of your information.
If you have any questions regarding this practice or would like more information, please contact my office and we will get you in touch with the right resource. Until then - keep your information to yourself and keep save.
Warm regards - hopefully it will stop raining soon!