The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : ‘Call spoofing’ latest con trick

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Jul 02, 2009
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

‘Call spoofing’ latest con trick

Marri Ramu

Under caller ID spoofing, caller’s number is misrepresented on the recipient phone
Tricksters are using the service to deceive their targets, as tracking calls is difficult

HYDERABAD: After Nigerian Advance Fee Fraud, call spoofing is the latest tool of cyber fraudsters to take people for a ride. The software required to spoof or change a telephone number displayed on a recipient’s mobile phone is available online in western countries for the past few years, but the tricksters are using it newly here trying to cheat their targets. Caller ID spoofing is the practice of causing the telephone network to display a number which is not that of the actual originating phone on the recipient phone.

Using specially designed software, the first mainstream Caller ID spoofing service, Star38.com, was launched in September, 2004 in America. Scores of similar sites sprang up later and the criminals began targeting unsuspecting persons using such sites which collect some fee.

In what is said to be the first ever such instance targeting a VVIP in Andhra Pradesh, unidentified conmen used the telephone number of a Cabinet Minister hailing from Telangana region recently. The Minister complained to the Hyderabad police higher-ups stating that some miscreants called a person known to him using his telephone number.

“Actually, I never rang up that person. Surprisingly, the incoming calls received by him displayed my mobile phone number,” the Minister reportedly told the police. The caller is said to have claimed himself as a surrendered naxalite and rang up thrice. How did the Minister’s telephone number appear on that person’s phone?

Investigators believe the ‘naxalite’ used one of the websites offering spoofing service, though the motive is not yet known. Initially, caller ID spoofing was used for fun but gradually tricksters began misusing it. Police officials feel it would be not only dangerous if offenders start using this service, but also difficult to track them in kidnap and extortion cases.

Already, many are falling easy prey to Nigerian fraudsters despite the police launching an awareness campaign. In September, 2008, a conman phoned a Minister and an MLA from Andhra Pradesh claiming that he was an MLA and requested them to transfer money online to a bank account in Mumbai stating that his daughter was stranded there.

Caller ID spoofing service makes such cheating much easier. Faced by the new challenge from fraudsters, police are racking their brains to track the ‘naxalite’ who used the Minister’s phone number and to devise a plan to check misuse of spoofing service.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Andhra Pradesh