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It's called spoofing...and it could be another way scam artists are trying to get around the law, and get their hands into your wallets. A Jacksonville woman is being inundated with phone calls from Arkansans who have been spoofed. Seven News Investigator Heather Crawford has been looking into this case and has more on what's happening and what you can do to protect yourself. If you get a call--often an automated call--from someone offering to extend your car warranty, telling you you've won a free cruise but need to pay a fee, or that they can lower the interest rate on your credit card, beware. The number that appears on your caller ID may not be where the call really orginated from and it may be a scam. It's called caller ID spoofing and it has turned in to be a *major* headache from more than one Arkansan. Kimberly "Smith's" cell phone has been ringing off the hook. (Kimberly Smith, Jacksonville)"I get roughly 40 calls a day. They start at 8 o'clock in the morning and the latest one was Wednesday night I got one a 2:15 in the morning." The calls are coming from angry Arkansans who are being harrassed by telemarketers. Arkansans who Kimberly says she has never called and doesn't even know. (Smith)"The first 2 days I actually picked up the phone and I got people cussing me out, calling me names." Kimberly quickly realized the callers were trying to dial a 772 area code that appeared on their caller ID--a Florida number that has been disconnected. But because there was not a one in front of the 10 digit number it rang a local number. (Smith)"Unfortunately my phone number and phone number the telemarketers have phished is very similar so when they hit redial they are only calling the first 7 digits which gets me." (Smith)"They call two or three times a day all week long." Alvin Johnson says he's gotten the calls from the 772 area code and several other area codes--about 200 over the past year. (Alvin Johnson, Conway)"Mostly it will be like your warranty on your car is about to expire and you have such and such time to pay to renew your warranty to take care of that matter. So that's when I hang up." (Janice Hyde, Little Rock)"I've been getting them for months you know different calls about my car warranties and stuff and I no longer have the vehicle anymore." Janet Robb of the Better Business Bureau says it appears to be a classic case of spoofing. That's where the caller makes a phone number other than the one they are calling from appear on your caller ID. (Janet Robb, President of AR Better Business Bureau)"The bottom line is always the same. They are not who they say they are and they want something from you." We checked with the Attorney General's Office and found out the people calling from the spoofed 772 number are breaking the law in more than one way. They are not only violating the do not call registry - there is also an Arkansas statute which prohibits telemarketers from using an autodialer to send a prerecorded pitch. But it can be difficult to track down who is really behind the calls because the spoofed number leads no where. (Jim Depriest, Deputy Attorney General)"The only other way to try to find them is to have the consumer stay on the phone, listen to the pitch, gather as much information as they can from the pitch, like the name of the company, the product that is being sold, a callback number...splice....That would be helpful to us." The AG's Office is now actively investigating this case and says dozens of Arkansans have already filed complaints. (Depriest)"In the last 8 days 31 complaints on the national do not call system regarding this 772 number from Florida, this spoofed number that have been placed by Arkansas Consumers to the F.T.C. So that's a very serious situation for us." Meanwhile Kimberly says her phone company can't do anything except change her number--and right now she is not willing to that. (Depriest) "My feeling is if we make enough noise then there has to be a way to catch these people. There has to be." Before you give out any personal or financial information be sure to check the company out with the Better Business Bureau or the Attorney General's Office. If you want to learn more about a number on your caller ID look under newslinks.
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