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According to the article, whoever is behind this is using some web site that lets anybody with an email address spoof a US phone number to send fraudulent messa
by bdw5204 3y ago
According to the article, whoever is behind this is using some web site that lets anybody with an email address spoof a US phone number to send fraudulent messages. The phone system badly needs to be upgraded so that people can't make calls or send text messages from somebody else's phone number. Doing that would not only stop the shady service that people are using to send these hoaxes to schools but would also stop the spam calls that come from people with the same first 6 digits as your number.
There aren't really legitimate use cases for phone number spoofing and even hiding your number so it shows up as unknown on caller ID is a good way to ensure the person you're calling won't answer the phone. When somebody makes a phone call, you should be able to trust that the caller ID shows the actual phone number that is calling you.
- codezero 3y agoThere are absolutely legitimate use cases for phone number spoofing, especially for businesses (many locations but single contact number as an identifier), but that doesn’t mean it can’t be made a lot more resilient to bad actors.
- robinsonb5 3y agoRestricting spoofing so that you have to own the spoofed number should cover the legitimate use cases, I think?
- codezero 3y agoYep!
- thereddaikon 3y agoThis is a mostly solved problem when it comes to the internet. We've figured out how to legitimately have an arbitrary number of computers appear as one single domain online and do so in a way that can be trusted. The issue with phones is a case of outdated technology and infrastructure.
- giantg2 3y agoExactly, phone systems can easily have an internal system and an external number. Very similar to internal vs external IPs. Nobody needs to care about internal numbers/IPs, but registering the external is beneficial. Treating phone numbers like IPs or even better domains could work.
- gustavus 3y ago> There aren't really legitimate use cases for phone number spoofing Very valid reason, I want to sign up for an internet account somewhere, Google, Facebook, etc and not have it be traced back directly to me because I value my privacy. If you're argument is that I shouldn't need to do that, well then you're just arguing against privacy in that case.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- marcosdumay 3y agoSo get a new number. Nothing on your comment is a reason for you to use somebody's else number.
- MerelyMortal 3y agoI value my privacy too and don't want to have to use a phone number for any service, but yours is the wrong arguement for this.
- triceratops 3y agoBurner phone number purchased with cash. Wear a mask to the store for added privacy.
- bryanlarsen 3y agoDoes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/STIR/SHAKEN https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/STIR/SHAKEN and the regulatory requirement that all providers implement it by June 2022 not cover text messages? If not, that's a massive hole.
- nix0n 3y agoIt doesn't even work for calls. I get robocalls from spoofed numbers about once a week.
- lotsofpulp 3y agoI stopped getting spam phone calls at least a year ago, so I presume something changed.
- sacnoradhq 3y agoThere is no blocking enforcement, yet. On Apple devices with some major carriers such as AT&T and Verizon, it provides a check mark beside a validated number (mostly, other mobile subscribers). The expansion of interoperability with the rest of US carriers, landline operators, and the international expansion will take years. And before blocking unsigned calls can happen, it will need to be phased-in and validated.