Phone Spoofing Unpacked

To be honest it is really down to common snese more than anything else...granted that providing this information is a good idea...but, unfortuinately, whatever information is provided however often there will still be users/members of the public taken in by phone (and email) scammers.
 
Baldrick
 
PS: A great way to add extra protection in this area is to install Truecaller, and it has proved to be very useful. ;)
 

Thanks for the tip @. I haven't used Truecaller yet. 
 
We wanted to provide a resource for people since this is becoming problematic and do everything we can to inform our customers. These spoofing ploys are getting more and more sophisticated and can make for (putting this mildly) a horrible customer experience. 
 
 

Hi freydrew
 
Providing a resource is excellent in principle...well done Webroot; unfortunately it is the intended audience that is the problem in my humble opinion...and some people will never listen to great advice as per the article...it is really sad that this is the case. :(
 
I use Truecaller on my Windows Phone (kudos to them for making sucha version...many would not), and it seems to work well if one makes it the default checking mechanism for calls on one's phone.
 
I would recommned that all try it if there is a version for their mobile OS...and if there is one for WIndows Phone then there must be one for iOS & Android. ;)
 
Regards, Baldrick
 

I have to agree with you, even this post will now be quoted in all likelihood and at the end of the day, It does come down to common sense & keen hearing.
 
There is one thing I listen for in most cold calling or fake tech support calls and that is grammar and how they form sentences, I also test their knowledge by asking them questions.
 
So, Never be afraid to ask questions, challenge them on details and you'll soon see through a charade, If after this, you're still not sure, then hang up and email or call customer services at Webroot directly and explain what has just transpired, I'm sure Webroot will only be too happy to inform you if they have called or not.
 
I forgot all about installing Truecaller, awesome suggestion Baldrick.
 
Regards

Thank you

I continue to receive phone calls from someone claiming to be with the IRS and they tell me I am being audited and need money.
 
Also receive emails from Nigeria telling me about being paid high commissions if they can route money through my bank account.

Excellent subject! Nice option - True Caller.
 
Please note I have a LAN phone.
 
About one year ago I got a message on my AT&T phone webpage. Message notified us AT&T memberss that we can apply for FREE NoMoreRobo calls. It was pretty easy to sign up on the AT&T phone webpage. Now, whenever I get a robocall, spam, scan, or Unknown calls the phone rings once and it goes to the NoMoreRobo call that was provided by AT&T. In Addition, on ATT's phone webpage is an area that I CAN BLOCK CALLS!!!!! This is great!!!! Some of the unknown calls that are frequent I just add them to the BLOCK list and they can't get through[:)  At first AT&T had a limit of 20 callers max could block. So I had to juggle the most frequent ones and delete other ones HOWEVER AT&T upped the maximum calls to block NOW AT 100......Yeah!!!!  I currently have 87 blocked calls. One time I accidently blocked my own cell phone:)  When I tried to call home it said I wasn't allowed permission.  I also accidently blocked one of my friends who still is my friend.
 
Finally after years of interuptions through out he day and into the evening up to 9pm my family and I have peace of mind:)
 
I also, check the Reverse Lookup website to see if the SCAM or FRAUD is LOW, MEDIUM, OR HIGH Risk and look at the complaints from callers.
 
The only phone numbers I can't block start with a prefix of 11 then area code and phone number. The prefix 11 means the call is international. I got a call from a Mortgage company and blocked it:)  Then the next day they got through with the prefix 11 so I went to Reverse Lookup and filed a complaint on that. I only have one or two 11 International calls about every other day and can live with that. Before I had NoMoRobo and Blocked Calls My family and I were getting about 10-15 calls a day on scaMs, fraud, unknown, callers, etc.  
 
Forget about the Do Not Call List because it doesn't work!!  Try True Caller or if you have AT&T do what I did. If you have another phone service provider contact them to see what they offer for FREE. There also are some iphone apps. 
 
Good luck and Thanks!

I also have the AT&T Anonomous Call Blocking on and daily look at my Call Log History. 
 
Hey, Guess What?  I looked closer on my AT&T Webpage and there is a feature at the bottom of the page to block international calls that start with the prefix 10 or 11!!!!! I got my answer thanks to this forum. Yeah!!:D

If anyone has someone they love who is elderly than you need to take extra precautions because the elderly are easy targets for phone solicitations, scans, and frauds. My mother agreed to extra service however I called the company to cancel and asked them not to call her anymore. 

Excellent article @ but please accept my most humble apologies for only just finding it.

@ no apologies needed. That's why we have the newsletter! Just in case you didn't get to it over the last few weeks, we've got a nice rollup of some of our favorite articles from the community. 
 
I got your back! 

@ wrote:
I also have the AT&T Anonomous Call Blocking on and daily look at my Call Log History. 
 
Hey, Guess What?  I looked closer on my AT&T Webpage and there is a feature at the bottom of the page to block international calls that start with the prefix 10 or 11!!!!! I got my answer thanks to this forum. Yeah!!:D

Yeah @!!! Glad that the Webroot Community could help! 

These days you can also Block Unknown callers on most mobile phones, of corse, they have to call the phone first so you're able to add the number to the Block feature.
 
This has been a standard feature on the apple iPhone for many years, other makes of mobile have also started adding this feature.
 
Blocking Unwanted numbers or actually having a Lan device is a good idea.