said by nwrickert:Apparently caller ID is easy to forge from VOIP.
I was led to understand that it's also possible to forge caller ID from a regular landline
without VOIP.
IIRC, there's a company or two that provides a subscription-based service where a caller decides what number they want to appear to be calling from, then inputs that number on a website before they make a call.
The primary market for Caller ID spoofing seems to be collection agencies who have people trying to dodge their calls using Caller ID. Apparently, chances are good that if a call is listed as coming from
your number, you're likely to pick it up, if only to see who it is.
Someone posted a link for a piece of hardware known as a "call manager" a while back that ran about $100, but featured the ability to reject calls that weren't on a pre-programmed "white list." That's about the only way I know of to avoid junk calls entirely and obviously that method only works for phone numbers you're aware of beforehand.
Some people swear by the DNC list, but it's only fair to point out that there's nothing to stop unscrupulous (and fly-by-night) telemarketers from making use of that list, especially since the numbers on it are almost all viable numbers. A firm has to stay in one place for the FTC to catch up with them for prosecution, and not all telemarketing firms are obliging enough to stay in one place long enough to be found and busted.