Caller ID Spoofing Offers Easy Privacy Protection Despite the Controversy

Although caller ID spoofing has been around for several years, it is still fairly unknown to most people. Caller ID spoofing is the act of changing what appears on a person's call display or caller ID when you place a call to them. You manipulate the phone number so that, instead of blocking your telephone number or revealing your real one, you choose any number you want to display.

Sites such as SpoofTel.com and FakemyNumber.com have brought caller spoofing mainstream. Now even regular individuals take advantage of its uses. In fact, a wide variety of individuals use caller ID spoofing including celebrities, bounty hunters and other law enforcement, VIPs, and professionals.

Bounty hunters and other law enforcement officials use caller ID spoofing to help track and catch suspects and criminals. Professionals use it to disguise the number they're calling from to that of the office, for instance. Celebrities and VIPs use it all the time to keep their real phone numbers hidden when placing calls. Even when calling people they may know well, there is always the chance someone could find the phone with their number on it. As well, regular individuals use it to simply keep their numbers private.

In addition to ID spoofing itself, some providers offer other related services such as call recording and voice changing during your call. Recording telephone calls is often troublesome but with providers such as SpoofTel, for instance, you can opt to record just one call or as many as you like. Each of your recorded calls is then available for easy download. Likewise, the voice changing feature offers a fun way to disguise your voice so the receiver of your call cannot recognize you.

Unfortunately, caller ID spoofing has received some negative reactions. For example, some opponents claim that ID spoofing makes it easy for scammers to gain personal information from you by posing as someone else, such as a reputable financial institution. There have been a couple of reported cases of people using the service maliciously although the numbers a very small. There are numerous ways that crooks and scammers take advantage but caller spoofing is not an easy way. Most providers take special care to prevent fraudulent use and, for the millions of users it does have, the scammers are far and few between.

Overall, a lot of individuals find it crucial to protect their privacy. ID spoofing offers an easy and inexpensive option. No equipment is needed, just a telephone or, if placing calls via the internet, a computer.