Caller ID spoofing victim revictimized by locals

Peterborough area woman recounts her experience with scam

A local woman who became inundated with rude, angry telephone calls and text messages earlier this week after con artists used her number to illegitimately call hundreds, if not thousands, of city residents is asking those who get that call not to hit redial.

The victim of caller ID spoofing, whose name The Examiner has agreed not to publish, doesn’t want to see others become revictimized like she was.

The woman started getting calls shortly before 8 p.m. Tuesday and knew something was up by the third one — after which she began hitting the dismiss button. By Wednesday morning, she disconnected her line and sought a new number.

She feels used and violated, but more than that, vulnerable and hurt because of the response.

“These are local people in my community who I might be standing behind in line at the grocery store. That really scared me,” she said. It’s a feeling she doesn’t want others to endure. “I want people to know … when they call back, you are revictimizing the victim.”

Some residents have even reported being called by their own number, said city police fraud unit Const. Keith Calderwood, who pointed out that illegitimate caller ID spoofing is not new — but seems to be on the rise.

Potential scammers are misrepresenting themselves so that people are more likely to answer their phone, because so many people have stopped picking up calls from unfamiliar numbers or 1-800 numbers, he explained.

They’re not just using local numbers, either. Fraudsters pretending to be with Canada Revenue Agency are using the

613 area code because people connect those three digits to Ottawa, Calderwood pointed out. “The people who are doing this know that.”

The woman filed a report on her situation to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, the central agency that collects information and criminal intelligence on scams like telemarketing, advance fee and internet frauds and identification theft complaints.

Her situation, however, is rare, Calderwood said, encouraging those whose numbers have been spoofed to take the same action.

The officer urged those not familiar with a number not to answer the phone — to screen their calls or let them go to voice

mail. “If you don’t bite, they will move on.”

The woman agreed cancelling her number didn’t slow the fraudsters down — she was visiting a friend on Wednesday when they got a call from someone using a “ghosted” number claiming to offer duct cleaning services.

There are legitimate purposes for altering caller ID information — call centres that place calls for multiple clients or doctors calling to discuss patient’s lab results may want to provide a hospital’s callback number to appropriately direct inquiries.

But technology is available for illegitimate telemarketers to do the same. Each violation of unsolicited telemarketing rules can lead to fines up to $1,500 per violation for an individual and $15,000 per violation for a business, according to the CRTC.

City police also warned residents earlier this week about a new fraud circulating scamming international post-secondary students into paying a fake Welcome to Canada tax.

Scam phone calls or messages can be reported to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre at 1-888-4958501 or visit online http://www.antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca/reportincident-signalerincident/index-eng.htm .

If you have been the victim of a scam and handed over money, report the incident to city police at 705-876-1122 or online at http://crimereporting.peterboroughpolice.ca/.

NOTE: For more information on caller ID spoofing, visit https://crtc.gc.ca/eng/phone/telemarketing/identit.htm .