It was reported in January 2023 that there had been a recent increase in reports of ‘number spoofing’, which is when scammers change their caller ID to disguise their identity from the person they are calling.
It was noted that many phone handsets were able to let you see the number of the person calling before you answer, and that “this feature – known as ‘Caller ID’ or ‘Calling Line Identity’ (CLI) – is a handy way of screening the calls you want to answer from the ones you don’t.”
However, it was also stated that, “there have been growing instances of nuisance callers and criminals deliberately changing the Caller ID, a practice known as ‘spoofing.’”
The consumer organisation Which? has recently picked up on this particular scam. On 11th September, they reported that the same technology which can help you identify a caller is also being “misused by nuisance callers and scammers.” The technology is said to allow them “to trick you into accepting calls you’d rather ignore, such as an overseas call centre showing a UK number,” or get around call-blocking devices.
Which? has also warned that:
“Public awareness remains low. When we surveyed people in August, 38% told us they hadn’t heard of number spoofing. This rose to 42% among Generation X (aged 40 – 59) and Baby Boomers (aged 60 – 79), leaving millions particularly vulnerable to scammers impersonating banks, energy providers and other trusted organisations. Number spoofing can be extremely valuable to a scammer: some 56% of fraud victims who were defrauded after receiving fake phone calls or texts told us it involved number spoofing (survey in April 2024).”
5 ways to protect yourself from number spoofing scams
Which? has come up with the five following ways to protect yourself from number spoofing scams:
1. Don’t trust the name or number on your phone.
2. Don’t give out sensitive information on incoming calls.
3. Landline call blocking.
4. Mobile phone call blocking.
5. Call-blocking phones.
For more information about how to spot and protect yourself from number spoofing scams please see here.
Fake Halifax website scam
Which? has also reported that two fake Halifax websites were shut down during the week beginning 8th September. They were reported by Which? but the consumer organisation is still warning customers that they should be on high alert for emails, calls, and texts which claim to be from the bank. Which? have noted that:
“An uptick in online searches related to ‘Halifax text scams’ prompted us to do a little digging and we spotted two copycat websites within hours, both clearly aimed at tricking Halifax customers into sharing their online banking details.”
Which? have also warned that scammers may impersonate any bank, as no financial institution is immune to fraud, but it is “common for certain banks to be hit harder than others at different times.”
How to spot banking scams
Which? advises people not to rush or panic when they are contacted by someone claiming to be from their bank or any other business, and to take a minute or two before acting.
Which? recommend that, “the safest thing to do is contact that business using a trusted source (such as the number on the back of your debit card or on its official website) to ensure the message or phone call was genuine. Barclays, Monzo and Starling even let customers quickly confirm if a call is genuine via their apps.”
More information about spotting and dealing with banking scams here.
A suspicious banking website can be reported here.
Google’s report ‘unsafe’ browsing page can be reached here, if Google ‘Safe Browsing’ should be displaying a warning but isn’t, or is incorrectly displaying a warning.
Suspicious emails cane be forwarded to the National Cyber Security Centre here.
If you get a fake text message, you can forward it to 7726, so that your network can investigate the message and block the sender.
And to find out more about reporting scams and warning others please see here.
How scammers use gift cards in their schemes
An investigation by the Norwegian broadcaster NRK into an organised fraud scheme found that a number of scammers had been using stolen credit cards to purchase numerous Apple gift cards.
Which? has noted that scammers use gift cards a lot in their scams, as they are easy to buy, hard to trace, are usually spent quickly and can be easily sold on. And it can be really difficult to get your money back.
Scammers are using gift cards in a lot of their scams. To find out more, please see here.
Scam sharer tool
To learn more about how you can share scams and help to protect others from scams, please see here.
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