I know that phone numbers can be spoofed, but don't all phone numbers originate with a carrier, or is it possible to fabricate a phone number?  If all numbers originate with a carrier, it would be nice if carriers took some responsibility to make sure that phony numbers, such as the one here, don't occur, or, at least, are identifiable.

>>  is it possible to fabricate a phone number?   <<

Yes.

We can no longer believe the phone number we see on our caller IDs (CID) belongs to the person who called!  The bad guys are now using easily accessed technology to "spoof" the CID numbers, so their real number does not appear.

The problem has gotten so bad, the US government actually passed an Act, called "The Truth in Caller ID Act of 2009", making such spoofing illegal.  See http://www.fcc.gov/guides/caller-id-and-spoofing
for more information.

The FCC adopted that Act in June, 2010, stating that violators could be fined up to $10,000 for each violation.

However, the bad guys are ignoring this law ... after all, they are criminals, and that is what criminals do.  Although we now have a "law" against spoofing, it is very difficult to enforce it.

So, if you see a CID number on your phone when you are called by some scammer or telemarketer, it might not belong to the scammer!  It might be the number of some unsuspecting third party ... or, it might be one of those numbers that charge $25 (plus about $9 per minute) if you call it back.

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Please reply to this post, to let us know you read it, or have taken suitable actions to protect yourself.

Recorded message about our "fixed rates" on American Electric Power.  Probably a scam offer to switch electric companies.  Of course, their illegal robodialer couldn't know our house is not on AEP.  Idiots!

Received a call from 440-117-0000 about being an electric company. Some woman with a very thick hillbilly accent asking about if we use this TTN power company? Or if we got our services from a bulk carrier. Must be a scamming operation in Cleveland area.

Received call this morning, could hear noise in the background, after I said "hello" Then, they hung up. I did not call the number back.