# Can telephone scammers spoof toll-free numbers? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 23, 2021, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-telephone-scammers-spoof-toll-free-numbers/933567 "2021-02-23T17:07:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2021, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-telephone-scammers-spoof-toll-free-numbers/933567/21 "2021-02-26T05:34:50Z")
Thank you for teaching your grandmother to suck eggs. Not to mention that your response is completely unresponsive to what I wrote. The first line of defense against phone scams is to not pick up the phone. It’s not the only line of defense. If you are suggesting I should never pick up the phone because some scammer might be spoofing the number of a friend who calls twice a week, that’s just fatuous. I have a brain in my head, and I know how to use it. ---
**Author:** ![Ranch\_Dip](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranch_dip/32/5238_2.png) [@Ranch\_Dip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranch_Dip)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2021, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-telephone-scammers-spoof-toll-free-numbers/933567/22 "2021-02-26T18:55:42Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > I have a brain in my head, and I know how to use it. Ok, dude. Why ask questions if you don’t want discussion and opinions. I didn’t say never to answer your phone. But you do you. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2021, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-telephone-scammers-spoof-toll-free-numbers/933567/23 "2021-02-26T21:45:07Z")
> [@Ranch\_Dip](#): > > Why ask questions if you don’t want discussion and opinions. A plausible response, if I had ever asked any of the questions you answered, or for someone who had not read most of the thread. > [@Ranch\_Dip](#): > > I didn’t say never to answer your phone. If the post below isn’t about whether to pick up phone calls, why is it in this thread? This thread is about screening phone calls, not about the various ways one can be scammed (not only by phone) by people pretending to be someone else. On top of which it is overbearing and condescending, as well as a complete non-sequitur of anything I had ever posted in this thread. > [@Ranch\_Dip](#): > > You can’t assume anything. You’ve already been told that anyone can spoof a number. > > If you get a call / text/ smoke signal from a “friend” it may not be. This is how some people are fooled. Their “grandchild” is stuck in Mexico. They don’t know which one, or if any of them are stuck in Mexico or have even been there. They just respond and BOOM! they have been scammed. > > Assume the worst, and verify. Or be at risk to a scam you don’t understand just because you assume that no one would do that. I’m not sure why you asked the original question if you don’t like the answers? If you wanted your remarks to be part of a general discussion, it would have made more sense to not quote me in the beginning of your posts. ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2021, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-telephone-scammers-spoof-toll-free-numbers/933567/24 "2021-02-27T23:15:44Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > Amazon (just like SocSec, the IRS and Microsoft) will never cold call. I found that out by looking it up. ---
**Author:** ![phs3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8491ac/32.png) [@phs3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phs3)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2021, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-telephone-scammers-spoof-toll-free-numbers/933567/25 "2021-03-09T06:18:45Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > I think local providers have different text if they can’t find the number, mine shows things like “out of area” quite a lot, which I believe is a really good clue that the number is spoofed and the system knows that the real origin number is actually not in my area code even though it says it is. Right, it’s always local. Some CLECs are worse than others about it. Even the big players suck: Verizon was unable to spell my name right despite it not being tricky AND being correct on the account, despite several attempts to correct it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-telephone-scammers-spoof-toll-free-numbers/933567.md?page=1)