What is Neighbor Spoofing?

Michelle Wilson - March 23, 2023

During the past couple of decades, the general public has more or less become savvy to phone scams. Once upon a time, it could be easy to convince someone that their wealthy long-lost cousin wants to send them money and all the caller needs is the person’s credit card number. Nowadays, it would be very difficult to trick someone into believing this is an authentic claim. It would be pointless to run a background check on them to ensure their legitimacy because their fraudulence is now common knowledge.

However, scams continue to evolve alongside the telephone itself. The wealthy cousin scam may not work as much anymore, but there certainly are other scams that unfortunately do. One such scam that is gaining traction is “neighbor spoofing.”

What Is Neighbor Spoofing?

Those responsible for phone scams know they need to adapt to the sophistication of apps that block their calls and the skepticism of knowledgeable consumers. Neighbor spoofing has become their latest strategy for stealing money from unsuspecting people. The core idea of this scam is to trick people into answering their phones using recognizable numbers. On top of being questionable in a legal sense, neighbor spoofing also poses a huge threat to the personal information of the person being called.

Scammers will set their caller ID to have a reliable-appearing phone number to hide their identities. Oftentimes, they will use a person’s phone number in their scams, meaning that someone who knows and trusts this person may answer the call thinking it is them. As soon as the call is answered, the scammer will make a note of the person’s active phone line and subsequently call them more times in the future. Additionally, they may try to start a conversation with the unsuspecting individual and try to obtain personal information, like credit card details. They might also try to direct them to a dubious website.

How Does Neighbor Spoofing Work?

Neighbor calling and other similar scams will utilize various strategies to use authentic numbers to disguise the scammers’ identities. They can sometimes rotate the numbers, so they are less likely to get blocked or reported. This scam is based on the understanding that people will normally answer calls from common numbers in areas they live in or those they recognize. This means that the odds of a scammer getting someone to answer the phone are higher. They can also go online to gather legitimate-looking phone numbers.

Overall, collecting phone numbers to use in their scams is not exactly hard due to the myriad of accessible registration forms and service sign-up documents that contain these numbers. Not only that but data leaks and breaches are culpable in exposing millions of numbers, thus making them low-hanging fruit for scammers. The strange thing is that the practice of phone spoofing is actually not illegal in a lot of countries. While this may sound shocking, there are valid reasons for this. Several organizations and agencies use this tactic to disclose their numbers. The strategy becomes unlawful when there is malicious intent in its usage.

Exploiting Familiarity

Scammers who perform neighbor spoofing will often use third-party call spoofing technology in their schemes. This will allow them to call a person’s phone under a false number, which will lure their targets in through familiarity. With this technology, the scammers can continue calling that specific person, essentially bombarding them with neighbor-spoofed calls.

Scammers will use high-tech software to set up a series of “robocalls,” and from there, they can make any number appear on the person’s caller ID. It could be a government number, someone the person may know, or a number that has a local area code. These scammers are able to conduct millions of calls in the span of a few minutes over the Internet. They operate under the belief – arguably the fact – that people will answer their phone if the number calling them is one they are familiar with. This tactic often works because people would rather deal with a spam call than potentially miss an important one.

How to Avoid Neighbor Spoofing

If someone wants to take precautions in stopping scammers from reaching them, there are some steps they can take to slow down the spoofing. With that said, they won’t completely stop these types of calls, but at the very least, they will lessen them considerably. The most popular method of avoiding these scams is to never answer phone calls from numbers that are not instantly recognizable. Even if the number looks to be local (a doctor’s office, school, pharmacy, etc.), let the call go to voicemail. Legitimate numbers and phone calls will typically leave a message if the call goes unanswered. If someone is uncertain of the validity of the call, they should ignore it and later check if a message has been left.

Another option is for the individual to register their number with a Do Not Call registry. Generally speaking, most spam calls originate from illegal operations that do not care about these government lists. Be that as it may, putting a number on this registry may also reduce the number of calls from telemarketers.

What if You Picked up the Phone?

Because these scams take advantage of people’s blind trust in a recognizable number, a lot of unsuspecting consumers have answered these calls. Those who have or might in the future should hang up the phone immediately and not engage with them. Moreover, do not follow any instructions the caller may give, regardless of if they promise never to call the number again.

If someone is unsure of the call’s legitimacy, they should refrain from giving out personal details or carrying out any actions that the caller requests. They can call the company or organization back to verify the legitimacy of the call. Reporting these fraudulent calls to the authorities is another worthwhile route to take. Some people will also go on public forums or social media platforms to warn others of these suspicious calls and how to spot them.

Conclusion

The sad reality is that as long as phones are being used, shifty people will always use them for their own benefit. Moreover, they will utilize innocuous elements for exploitation. Neighbor spoofing scams, for example, are banking on the fact that familiar-looking numbers are easier to trust than the average 1-800 caller ID. As such, it is important that people who answer the phone continue to be cautious when it comes to suspicious numbers and callers. By being aware of the different scams and understanding how to spot them, the disastrous outcomes of these calls can be reduced.