Phone spoofing?

[Riri4cake]

I think my phone number is being used in a bank scam, I've had 2 calls from confused elderly people who have been told to call my number re their bank accounts. What can I do?!

[goslow · Accepted solution]

Unfortunately, there is not too much you can do.

Topics about this abuse of real customers' phone numbers have grown on here over time.

Generally though the scammers cycle through, and replace, the numbers they use as fake caller ID fairly quickly. With any luck your number may well drop out of use before too long and return calls back to you should stop.

[Robert_P]

Hello Riri4cake

Sorry to hear of the calls received, we can understand the confusion this can cause and appreciate you raising this via the forums. Welcome to the community.

As the methods used by scans of this nature get more sophisticated ad difficult to prevent we always look to get ahead of the curve. As goslow has advised, if the number is being spoofed then it will likely be changed to a new number fairly quickly.

If you are concerned, we do have the option to change your number for you if you would wish to do this? 

Rob

[Riri4cake]

Thanks for replying.  It's more the issue of people being scammed and not being able to do anything about it, heartbreaking to talk to so many people who may be victimised & scammed out of money 😢 

[goslow]

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@Riri4cake wrote:

Thanks for replying.  It's more the issue of people being scammed and not being able to do anything about it, heartbreaking to talk to so many people who may be victimised & scammed out of money 😢 

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Yes, reading similar past topics on here can be distressing when the scammer has confused the (often elderly) victim so much that the victim has no idea whether they are coming or going, nor whom to trust.

Only advice you can give is for the victims to speak to Action Fraud and/or their local police on the non-emergency number as well as contacting their bank to try to protect the accounts. If the scammers gained remote access to the victim's computer then the computer will need 'sanitizing' too from any scammer malware/programs.

In some similar past topics on here, unlucky VM customers whose phone number has been used as a fake caller ID have left an answering machine message in place, explaining that the number has been abused by the scammers. The message has been left in place until the return calls stop when the scammers stop using the number for a fake caller ID.

[Anonymous]

I would also suggest your report to Law Enforcement also on Action Fraud.

They do investigate matters such as this. 

[Ilyas_Y]

Hi there @Riri4cake, thanks for reaching out to us.

I'm sorry to hear about the possible bank scam under your landline number.
May I ask which bank was this for? Whichever one of the banks it is, please inform the banks so that they can start an internal investigation.
Let us know and we can keep track on our end for any activity.

Kind regards.