SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — Victims of the Great Southern Bank phishing scam extend beyond those who gave personal information over the telephone to callers pretending to be with the bank. The scammers used many legitimate phone numbers as their cover and the owners of those numbers are now feeling the unwarranted wrath of consumers.
It’s known as Caller ID spoofing. The scammer steals a legitimate phone number, causing the telephone network to display a number on the recipient’s Caller ID display that is not that of the actual caller.
In last week’s Great Southern phishing scam, we know of at least a dozen numbers that were spoofed. Some of them are local.
“There’s been cases where a person has been looked at in an identity theft case and it wasn’t even their phone number,” said Assistant Attorney General Ron Carrier.
In the Great Southern scam, Facebook posters shared nearly a dozen different numbers that came up on their caller IDs, many of them belonging to legitimate business and individuals in the Ozarks and around the country. JMark Business Solutions is a business built on protecting it’s customers from cyber theft. Owner Tom Douglas says phone numbers are extremely vulnerable.
“Based on the environment and the mass in which they’re doing it, I would say they have a complicated phone system. They’re buying a list and targeting people based on that info,” Douglas said.
One of those numbers belongs to a Walnut Grove resident who was extremely upset when she learned her phone number had been stolen. She didn’t want to talk with us because she’s worried what might happen if someone mistakingly things she is the scammer. In reality, she’s the victim of Caller ID spoofing.
There’s not much you can do. One thing you should never do is call back the number on your caller ID, not only because it may not belong to the person who is making the call. but also because they can then grab your phone number and use it for criminal purposes.
Article source: http://www.ky3.com/news/ky3-caller-id-spoofing-puts-ozarke-01102011,0,5990336.story?track=rss
Category: Spoofing