Jun 9, 2014
>>> ("1"s are used IN THE MIDDLE of Area Codes and exchanges, ONLY.) <<<
You must be even older than I am, and that's saying something!
Although it is still the case that no area code or exchange can BEGIN with a "1" or a "0" (and hence, the number you are reporting is, indeed, spoofed), the even stricter rule you recite was abandoned a long time ago, to the extent you properly recited it at all.
"1" and "0" were never allowed in the middle of exchanges until certain area codes switched to all-digit dialing. That's because the local exchanges all had names, and the first two letters of the local exchange were used as the first two digits of the local phone number being dialed. And there are no letters on the telephone dial for "1" and "0." Rather than add new area codes at the time, TPC ("the phone company") simply decided to expand the universe of 7 digit numbers available for assignment.
They also considered going from 7 digit dialing to 8 digit local dialing, but that would require all the switches in every part of the country to be modified or replaced -- by then, a very expensive proposition for a network that still largely comprised mechanical stepper switches. I remember the editorial cartoon the local newspaper ran when that was announced -- "Sorry, Long Number."
But you still can't have an exchange that begins with a "1" or a "0" because too many switches would take that as a signal that at least 7 or 10 *more* digits were to follow.
And there's also tradition.