Business

Telephone caller ID spoofing

People who have fallen prey to a scam (in which spoofing is used to create the sense of confidence) often tell experts things like, “But the caller stated they were from a certain company, the phone number they contacted from was the same number on the back of the card, and they received an SMS from that company.”

Spoofing, commonly known as caller ID spoofing, is a new tactic frequently used by con artists.

In what way is this a spoof, exactly?

The termcaller ID spoofing refers to the fraudulent use of a phone number to mislead you about the actual caller or sender of a text message or voice call.

The goal of the scammer using this strategy is to get you to answer the phone or respond to an SMS message. An increasing percentage of Australians are growing weary of answering calls from unknown or suspicious numbers, so this comes at a bad time.

How does the con really function?

If you receive an urgent request via text message asking you to verify a new payee, or if you are asked to verify an existing payee, you have likely fallen victim to one of these scams. There’s a chance you’ll get a warning that your account is about to be stopped, or that a Fraud or Security Officer will call you to discuss some unusual behaviour. The two scenarios you present are both plausible.

When you get an SMS from a spoofed sender name, all of the messages received in this way will be grouped together in one thread. To view some actual examples of this type of fraud, please go to online to check the scam.

Your personal or financial details could be stolen if you click on a link in a suspicious text message that seems to come from a legitimate source.

Which direction should you look into first?

By utilising the sender name or by imitating one of our normal phone lines, scammers may try to convince you that the call or message they are sending you originates from a reputable source.

Hoaxed text messages (SMS) will be filed alongside any genuine ones you’ve recently received on your phone.

You can do little to stop a scam artist from calling or texting you with a phoney number.

It’s important to remember, though, that this is highly improbable for a forged phone number, thus activating Spam/Scam call alerts in your phone’s settings won’t do much to assist you detect whether or not a scammer or spammer is attempting to contact you.

Is there anything you can do to protect yourself?

Keep an eye out for suspicious calls or texts; just because the sender or caller says they’re from a certain company doesn’t mean they actually are. Keep your guard up. Hang up if someone calls and says you can’t use this method and instead phone the number listed on our website. Be aware of this caller if you’re told you can’t use this approach.

If you receive a message about your account or transactions through SMS, do not follow the provided links.