Hawaiian Telcom Warns of “Neighbor Spoofing” Scam

Over the past few days Hawaiian Telcom has received more than 200 calls from customers who have received scam calls from their own phone number.

“Neighbor spoofing” is a form of Caller ID spoofing that displays a phone number similar to or the same as your own number on the caller ID in hopes of increasing the likelihood that you will answer the call.

While Caller ID spoofing is often used for fraudulent activity, it can also be used by legitimate businesses to appear as if they have a local branch office. Phone numbers with Hawai‘i’s (808) area code appear to be current targets for scam calls. Hawaiian Telcom offers the following tips:

• Do not answer calls from phone numbers you don’t recognize, even if the calls appear to be local. If the call is legitimate, the caller will leave a message. Answering a spoofed call could lead to additional calls so the best action is not to answer.
• Always be careful about responding to any request for personal identifying information. Never give out or confirm personal information, such as your Social Security or credit card number, to a stranger who calls you.
• Be aware that your phone number may have been spoofed so you may receive calls from people asking why you called them.

Today the Federal Communications Commission proposed rules to ensure that they can bring enforcement actions against scammers from overseas who spoof calls and text messages. Last year the FCC received more than 52,000 complaints about spoofed calls, many that were believed to be generated from overseas call centers. For more information about the news release and Caller ID spoofing, please visit the FCC’s website.