Deceptive local caller ID calling from other side of world

[lesmfunk777]

Who generates the local number for entities calling from the other side of the world? I answered the call because it is a local number. The polite and honest caller told me he was from India and said it was a computer generated number. He says all companies are doing it. But when I dialed the number, I got a real, local human on the line. Is Public Mobile involved in this deception and hijacking of other's caller ID's? Can we trust the caller ID feature anymore?

[sheytoon]

Incoming calls are completely different from outgoing calls.

Anyone with a voip system can change their outgoing caller ID to any value they like. That will get passed on to the receiving party.

[Grinch]

It’s easy to do. Especially if you have a voip account. I get around it by having a contacts list of any one that I know good or bad. That then sets my caller id to tell me who is calling. Then I can decide to answer if not. . Then I set my iPhone to only accept calls from contact list or from someone that calls twice within 3 minutes. The block allows voicemail and my message asks for their name and number just in case I have erred in not including their number in my contacts. 

[umnikke8]

Caller ID  hasn't been trustworthy for quite some time, it's easy to fake these days. STIR/SHAKEN was supposed to help by authenticating numbers that come through a trusted path, but deployment is still limited and dragging.

[HALIMACS]

@lesmfunk777 

NEVER answer any calls from numbers/people you either don't recognize or are not on your contact list.  It can be difficult to ignore a call, but you will get used to it.  

If the person calling you needs you that badly, they will leave a voice message; if they don't bother leaving one, you likely didn't need to hear from them in the first place.

IF YOU DO ANSWER, and the caller is a spammer, it's likely your number will get logged as one which will get answered, so anticipate spam calling to increase (at least in the short term).  Additionally, companies sell information to others for numbers which result in answered calls, so also bear that in mind.

[Phil_Adelphus]

@lesmfunk777   The scammers spoof (fake) local numbers because people are more likely to answer then.  

[Sansan]

Scamers everywhere. There is not much anyone can do. Just have to always be on your guard and not provide your private details.