What Is Spoofing?

Per the FCC, "Spoofing is when a caller deliberately falsifies the information transmitted to your caller ID display to disguise their identity. Scammers often use neighbor spoofing so it appears that an incoming call is coming from a local number, or spoof a number from a company or a government agency that you may already know and trust. If you answer, they use scam scripts to try to steal your money or valuable personal information, which can be used in fraudulent activity."
Reference: www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/spoofing-and-caller-id

This above scenario may occur and happen to any number, including but is not limited to:

Wireless number
Landline number
Hearsay Relate number

Unfortunately, spoofing in the U.S. is not illegal unless done with the intention to defraud an individual, which can be difficult to prove or confirm. However, trends show that oftentimes, the scammer spoofing the phone number had chosen the number at random, and moved onto spoofing a different number within just a few days to 2 weeks. That said, Hearsay understands the frustration this may cause and are working with our telecom partners toward the implementation of solutions which authenticate sent and received phone calls. However, government guidance for all interconnection mandates across carriers currently is June 30, 2021.

Please see the following list of resources for more information on the subject, along with articles provided by major telecom companies:

https://www.fcc.gov/call-authentication
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/STIR/SHAKEN
https://www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/spoofing-and-caller-id
https://about.att.com/pages/cyberaware/ni/blog/caller-id-spoofing
https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/blog/2016/05/scammers-can-fake-caller-id-info
https://www.verizon.com/support/knowledge-base-218765/
https://www.t-mobile.com/support/plans-features/help-with-scams-spam-and-fraud

Tips & Tricks Articles