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Telecom Business Review | Thursday, November 17, 2022
Phone number spoofing is used to mask the personal details of gig workers and clients in the sharing economy.
FREMONT, CA: There are plenty of legitimate reasons why an individual or organization may spoof a phone number. It isn’t illegal. Businesses have long used spoofing to make calls from an official number on different devices. Presently, it’s more and more used to mask the personal details of gig workers and clients in the sharing economy.
Phone spoofing is only illegal if done with malicious or fraudulent intent. Regrettably, the spread of VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) technology has made it even easier for scammers and robo-callers to spoof numbers and leverage phony caller IDs for foul ends.
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What are the legal reasons for phone spoofing?
Although phone number spoofing is generally associated with scams and annoying telemarketing calls, there’s a long list of legitimate — and even routine — grounds why individuals and organizations seek how to spoof a phone number.
Here are some of the many legitimate uses of phone spoofing to manipulate caller ID info:
• Law enforcement: Police and other agencies use phone number spoofing to contact people secretly.
• Healthcare: In fields where client confidentiality is important, spoofed numbers help to maintain privacy.
• Helplines: Phone spoofing permits helpless people to reach out for help quietly.
• Journalists: Sources may want to communicate with journalists without revealing their location or identity, and vice versa.
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