What Do You Mean They’re Using my Phone for Spoofing?

As banking online continues to grow in popularity, so do the methods in which criminals attempt to commit fraud and scams to obtain information that will allow them to gain access to your accounts. One of the more common approaches scammers use is called spoofing.

Spoofing can take many forms. The more common ones include email spoofing in which an email appearing to come from a bank is sent with a falsified “From:” entry, and URL (uniform resource locator) spoofing which is when scammers set up a fraudulent website in order to obtain information from victims or install viruses on computers. Another popular, but less well-known, type of spoofing is not perpetrated online but by phone. Caller ID spoofing is a type of attack in which the fraudster will create a false phone number to make it appear that the call is from a trusted source. You are reading that correctly. Just as it’s possible to create an email or website that looks like it belongs to your bank, it’s also possible to do the same with a phone number. By having your bank’s name appear on your caller ID, the spoofer is hoping to trick you into believing that you are in communication with your bank so you’ll provide personal and confidential information.

As with other online and phone scams, the best way to thwart caller ID spoofing is by recognizing when it’s taking place. Recently, Ephrata National Bank has become aware of increases in Caller ID spoofing. As a result, we are asking our customers to be extra vigilant and remember that we will never call requesting information such as account numbers, PINs, or passwords. If you receive a call from someone asking for this information, even if the caller ID says, “Ephrata National Bank”, do not provide it to them.