Jul 19, 2014
Recent articles at Better Business Bureau, Scambusters Dot Com and The Fiscal Times Dot Com indicate that there is a NEW SCAM that telemarketers and scammers are using. They are now using the SPOOFED NUMBERS of REGULAR PEOPLE: pretty much anyone who has a telephone: small businesses, usually local, friends, neighbors,etc. The articles state that the scammers have figured out that householders will not pick up the phone if they check and find out that the number is spoofed. By using the spoofed numbers of regular people and small businesses, the scammers are hoping that the householder will pick up the phone. The NEW SCAM also involves spoofing the householder's own telephone number. The idea is that that householder will be so shocked to see his/her own phone number in the caller ID, that they will pick up. The Better Business Bureau article is from Central East Texas. It warns against picking up the phone. If the householder does pick up the phone, it warns not to press any buttons, not to call the number back and not to give out any financial or personal identifying information to the supposed caller.