spoofing my VOIP number

[lacajun]

Is there a way to stop someone(s) from spoofing my telephone number? Xfinity said no. I'm wasting a lot of time because of this. People are calling me back and often leaving voicemails about receiving a call from me. My number and name come up on their caller ID. The FCC has a list of things to not do, which I have done for decades.

If there is a way to stop this, I would go back to Xfinity and discuss it. They can be a huge time hog on their own, though.

Pamela K. Quillin, P.E.
Quillin Engineering, LLC
NSPE-CO, Central Chapter
Dinner program:

http://nspe-co.org/events.php

 

[3DDave]

There is no more ability to do this than to prevent someone using your home address as the return address on a ransom note to the FBI.

The telcos have the ability to validate the number as belonging to the sender and reject when it doesn't match but there are two cases where this isn't going to happen. The first is when jerks are paying the telco to carry the traffic. The second, legitimate reason, is when a central service is distributing info for a 3rd party - example, a company that leaves reminders for doctors. The ID will be for the doctor, not the central service.

The difference is that the legit business won't be generating 10 million a day and hanging up when they get an answering machine.

Just wait - eventually you'll get a call with your own number on the Caller ID.

 

[lacajun]

3DDave, how can someone afford to pay for the traffic, when using my number and people call me back? Sorry for being dense.

Pamela K. Quillin, P.E.
Quillin Engineering, LLC
NSPE-CO, Central Chapter
Dinner program:

http://nspe-co.org/events.php

 

[3DDave]

Ah - because they want to talk to vulnerable people - they are running scams and need to ensure the victims are caught off guard. So they call and say your car warranty is about to expire, your child is in lockup and you need to send money for bail, that the IRS is performing a collection and you need to pay off in gift cards or you will be put into jail.

Those all sound stupid and who would fall for them? People with dementia or other cognitive problems. That's why the scammers need to place so many calls and do so rapidly, because the victims are such a small percentage of the general population. Often they pick numbers for the Caller ID with the same zip code so it might appear to be someone local. They know many people have phones set to ignore "Unknown" so they sometimes pick real numbers so that any service that is blocking calls will compare and see it's a legit number; the service cannot tell where the call originated but the telco can and they don't care.

It's why they don't leave a message and waste no time with answering machines. Their scam doesn't work if the person realizes they don't have a car warranty, calls their child to see if they are OK, and thinks about why the IRS would not have sent an agent to the house if the situation was that bad - or call a lawyer or friend for advice about it.

It certainly sucks to be on the receiving end. The FCC could do something, but that requires pressure on all the telcos. It only takes one to accept this garbage and the rest of the telcos have a far harder job (and if they do it, they lose the pass-through fees so they don't want to.)

 

[IRstuff]

Hi Pam,

People are calling me back and often leaving voicemails about receiving a call from me.

Did the other you leave voicemails? I'm guessing not and the people calling you are likely seniors, who are typically the target for phone scams. Your number came up probably just because most people who get unsolicited phone calls block the callers, so there's a cat and mouse game of call, block, call with a different number, block, etc. I literally have hundreds of blocked phone numbers and email addresses, so I'm likely missing out on a few legitimate contacts, but cest la vie.

TTFN (ta ta for now)
I can do absolutely anything. I'm an expert!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKorP55Aqvg

faq731-376 forum1529 Entire Forum list

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[lacajun]

No one has mentioned any messages left. I talked with a lady last night, who returned the call. She runs her own business and cannot let calls go unanswered. She didn't indicate a message was left. She called back because my number was on her caller ID.

Seems like a terrible waste of time and a dishonorable, illegal way to get money.

Pamela K. Quillin, P.E.
Quillin Engineering, LLC
NSPE-CO, Central Chapter
Dinner program:

http://nspe-co.org/events.php

 

[IRstuff]

Seems like a terrible waste of time and a dishonorable, illegal way to get money.

Yes, and that's why there are millions of people in jail. This particular variety is somewhat worse than, say, the Nigerian 419 scams; those, at least, ostensibly prey on people who have some level of larceny in their hearts, and they go in knowing they're doing something illegal or immoral.

My favorite 419 email, which I sadly did not save, lauded me for being recommended as a moral and honest person, but would I like to help the sender commit bank fraud?

TTFN (ta ta for now)
I can do absolutely anything. I'm an expert!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKorP55Aqvg

faq731-376 forum1529 Entire Forum list

http://www.eng-tips.com/forumlist.cfm

 

[lacajun]

would I like to help the sender commit bank fraud?

That's bold and stupid! The depravity of mankind knows no depth too deep to which it will sink.

I believe 3DDave is correct and that Comcast doesn't care. They will not address the problem even though they have an abuse department.

Allo is running fiber in my area. When they get done, I will be leaving Comcast. Their customer service has been terrible for too many years. Perhaps they need competition.

Pamela K. Quillin, P.E.
Quillin Engineering, LLC
NSPE-CO, Central Chapter
Dinner program:

http://nspe-co.org/events.php

 

[3DDave]

Comcast doesn't know where the call comes from - except the upstream source. They cannot manage this. However some company in the chain was the first to take that call and they take 10,000,000 other such calls from the same junk company to spread them throughout the rest of the system. That's the one responsible.

 

[lacajun]

It seems they could track something to determine who is using a telephone number, as a front. Statistical analysis of something... Seems like some sort of trail would be left to find. This is really annoying for me.

Most people are nice, when they leave messages. Some are not. One man called me back so many times I finally called him to explain that someone was using my number as a front and that if he didn't stop calling me, I would have to report him. He was one of the angry people.

Pamela K. Quillin, P.E.
Quillin Engineering, LLC
NSPE-CO, Central Chapter
Dinner program:

http://nspe-co.org/events.php

 

[3DDave]

No more than your mailman could tell who mailed a letter. Comcast is the last step in delivering the call.

The people dragging their heels on this is the FCC who refuses to act.