Posted on 08/31/2004 5:34:50 PM PDT by wjersey
Your Caller ID feature may no longer be telling the truth.
This week, a company is launching technology that will make it possible for someone to choose what appears on phones that have Caller ID, the feature for displaying identifying information about an incoming call.
It could be a different phone number, or even a few words, said Jason Jepson, founder of Star38, which has developed the commercial Caller ID spoofing service.
Sales of Star38 will be limited to licensed private investigators and collection agencies, Jepson said. The service will cost $20 a month plus airtime charges.
The technique for replacing the usual bits of identifying information, such as phone number and name, that accompany inbound calls was discovered a few years ago by hackers. Privacy advocates fear that in the wrong hands, commercial services have the potential to be abused. For instance, telemarketers could use technologies similar to Star38's to trick people into answering a call that looks like a familiar phone number.
Star38 aims to overcome the stigma created by earlier pranksters and thieves.
"Unfortunately, what's happened is some hackers have got to it first and gave it a bad name," Jepson said. "If they step back and see the forest through the trees, they'd realize what they are doing is hard and illegal. What we are doing is neither."
The company plans to explore other markets as well. For example, Jepson said he's begun talks with Musicphone, a San Francisco-based service that lets people send songs, along with personalized messages, to any kind of phone--cellular or standard.
Musicphone wants to use Star38's software to send even more information about certain artists, he said. A Musicphone representative could not immediately be reached for comment.
Misrepresenting your identity tends to be a felony called "fraud."
I imagine that, in more than a few localities, there are District Attorneys who might be willing to try such a case.
How do you give misrepresenting who you are and how you can be reached, for commercial gain, a bad name. You can't wet the ocean. 
I have 4 rings to answer and if I don't recognize the number I don't answer!
I had some drunk calling me several times a week on my cell phone. I finally complained to the phone compan, and they said they couldn't do anything about it except give me a new number. I said that was the stupidest and most unreasonable thing I'd ever heard from a company in a competetive business.
I noticed, however, that the calls stopped immediately.
She looks very intellegent and has very nice teeth.
(Just spoke those very words to she who must be obeyed)
Great.
So this company will let perverts call women listed in the phonebook and by pass their caller ID?
Nice, um, fingernails.
(Now, what was this thread about again?)
LibreOuMort, time to get with our rep and write a new bill!!
ProudVet77, could you explain this in more detail? Surely your phone didn't dial from DTMF received in the message? Or did it?
#1. Miss Delaware isn't going to be calling me.
#2. If she did and got through, I'd have lots of 'splainin' to do to the lovely, intelligent, well-educated, and far more mature Mrs. Sionnsar.
Nope. The message was one of several on my cell phone. As I was listening to and deleting the messages, all of a sudden I was talking to someone. She did not expect to hear from me, and neither did I expect to hear her.
From what I can tell (I'm an IT type) they had imbedded the call codes in the message.
I knew that could be done on a regular phone, the phone company makes a call based on tones. Apparently, and it makes sense to me know, the call codes on a cell phone are silent.
there all elective...my local service is 11.75 a month no buttons and bells just plain old dial tone...
Hmmm... Interesting. Potential for lots of abuse there...
a "hacked cellphone" on "screensavers tv" will display on your caller i.d., "whitehouse, n the real whitehouse #"...
easily defeated:
"unavailable","out of area" or anyone not recognized=
no answer.
I'm sure Congress will pass a new law to save us all from
the invasion of the privacy snatchers.
Just saw a link to a company that does just that the other day. You use their service to mask your actual phone number. Was posted right here on FR.
Perhaps the moderator can do a text search for the entry. Key word would be private investigator. I remember that phrase in the text.
Now that WILL get me in trouble, we never discuss fingernails, it is an unwritten Law.
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