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Thread: Another Scam?

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jul 2003
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    Another Scam?

    Got a call on my cell phone last night. A recorded message from "The United States Postal Service" telling me that they could not deliver my mail because they did not have my address. (Seriously folks, look at the envelope) and to stay on the line for the next operator and provide them with the info they need to deliver my mail. The number that showed on my phone was 866-366-4357. Anybody else got this yet?

  2. #2
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    If you have to ask it's probably a scam.

  3. #3
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    Spoofed number.. it belongs to Dominion Virginia Power.
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  4. #4
    Quote Originally Posted by Dan Hintz View Post
    Spoofed number.. it belongs to Dominion Virginia Power.
    Is it possible to call from one number, and make it look like the call is coming from another?

  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by Stephen Cherry View Post
    Is it possible to call from one number, and make it look like the call is coming from another?
    Must be, I got the same call and number in Michigan.
    From the workshop under the staircase, Clinton Township, MI
    Semper Audere!

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by Stephen Cherry View Post
    Is it possible to call from one number, and make it look like the call is coming from another?
    Yes. It is very easy to do. One should never rely on caller ID or reverse phone number look-up to verify the authenticity of a caller.

  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by Stephen Cherry View Post
    Is it possible to call from one number, and make it look like the call is coming from another?
    Yes. This loophole was originally created so that fund-raising firms calling on behalf of a charity can display the name of the charity on caller ID instead of something like "ripoff marketing". Subsequently, the equipment to spoof caller ID has become widely available and used by a huge number of telemarketers for illegitimate purposes and to ignore the do-not-call list. These guys regularly change the spoofed number, making it almost impossible for the FTC to catch them.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
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    That's a new one; it actually is Dominion Virginia. I guess the scams that call me are too lazy to spoof numbers.

    About a quarter of the mail I get actually goes somewhere else; usually a neighbor, but sometimes across town. So if USPS said they couldn't deliver my mail I would have fallen for it.

  9. #9
    Phone companies have no incentive to stop this, because they make money on the traffic.

    Just as internet hosting companies have no incentive to stop spammers, because they make money on the traffic.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Dec 2006
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    Orange Park, FL
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    Anyone calling, that I don't know, and asks for me I tell them "He is deceased." I will have to wait a few months to see if calls are diminished. The do not call site is a joke. No one abides by it IMHO.

  11. #11
    Join Date
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    Actually, spoofing caller id with a VoIP system such as asterisk is trivial. It is also much harder to trace to a physical location, CSI magic aside.
    Paul

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Mar 2010
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    Elizabeth City, NC
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    I've had the same scam only they contacted me through email, claiming they couldn't deliver my package.
    I am not saying go kill all the stupid people......
    I'm just saying let's remove all the warning labels and let the problem sort itself out.

  13. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by Stephen Cherry View Post
    Is it possible to call from one number, and make it look like the call is coming from another?
    I can spoof a number/name using my home VoIP system... nothing fancy needed, doesn't cost me anything extra to do so.
    Hi-Tec Designs, LLC -- Owner (and self-proclaimed LED guru )

    Trotec 80W Speedy 300 laser w/everything
    CAMaster Stinger CNC (25" x 36" x 5")
    USCutter 24" LaserPoint Vinyl Cutter
    Jet JWBS-18QT-3 18", 3HP bandsaw
    Robust Beauty 25"x52" wood lathe w/everything
    Jet BD-920W 9"x20" metal lathe
    Delta 18-900L 18" drill press

    Flame Polisher (ooooh, FIRE!)
    Freeware: InkScape, Paint.NET, DoubleCAD XT
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  14. #14
    Join Date
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    Any business that calls you and then wants to know a bunch of information they should already know is almost always a scam. A legitimate business should know your name, account number, address, and all that before they call you. I almost never have issues with the wrong mail in my mailbox.

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