# Is it illegal to spoof your phone number when sending an SMS? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 30, 2018, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-illegal-to-spoof-your-phone-number-when-sending-an-sms/811488 "2018-03-30T20:10:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2018, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-illegal-to-spoof-your-phone-number-when-sending-an-sms/811488/1 "2018-03-30T20:10:38Z")
I have a friend who’s being harrassed by an ex, and he seems to be using an app that lets him send text messages from many different phone numbers to get past her blocking. I am wonderig if this might be illegal? I don’t know the name of the app. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2018, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-illegal-to-spoof-your-phone-number-when-sending-an-sms/811488/2 "2018-03-30T20:18:42Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > I have a friend who’s being harrassed by an ex, and he seems to be using an app that lets him send text messages from many different phone numbers to get past her blocking. > > I am wonderig if this might be illegal? > > I don’t know the name of the app. “Is it illegal” is a useless question unless you say “in \”. Because law varies from place to place. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2018, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-illegal-to-spoof-your-phone-number-when-sending-an-sms/811488/3 "2018-03-30T21:39:49Z")
> [@gnoitall](#): > > “Is it illegal” is a useless question unless you say “in \”. Because law varies from place to place. No, not useless. People are free to name a jurisdiction and give an answer for example, and that information is perfectly useful. In the face of my oversight you could have just said “what jurisdiction?” That also shows the question I asked is useful–in that it is part of a perfectly sensible information-gathering event. But this is occurring in Indianapolis in any case. ---
**Author:** ![DinoR](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dinor/32/2821_2.png) [@DinoR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DinoR)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2018, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-illegal-to-spoof-your-phone-number-when-sending-an-sms/811488/4 "2018-03-30T22:19:43Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > But this is occurring in Indianapolis in any case. From the Indiana Attorney General’s website [FAQ](https://www.in.gov/attorneygeneral/2443.htm): > [@](#): > > Is spoofing Caller ID against the law? > Both Indiana and federal law prohibit knowingly transmitting misleading or inaccurate Caller ID information **with the intent to defraud, cause harm or wrongfully obtain anything of value.** [From the FCC](https://www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/spoofing-and-caller-id) on US federal law: > [@](#): > > Is spoofing illegal? > > Under the Truth in Caller ID Act, FCC rules prohibit any person or entity from transmitting misleading or inaccurate caller ID information with the intent to defraud, cause harm, or wrongly obtain anything of value. **If no harm is intended or caused, spoofing is not illegal.** Anyone who is illegally spoofing can face penalties of up to $10,000 for each violation. In some cases, spoofing can be permitted by courts for people who have legitimate reasons to hide their information, such as law enforcement agencies working on cases, victims of domestic abuse or doctors who wish to discuss private medical matters. Assuming there’s not finely worded detail covering SMS Sender ID differently from voice Caller ID it looks like the answer is “it depends on other stuff.” There are legal uses of spoofing and illegal uses. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2018, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-illegal-to-spoof-your-phone-number-when-sending-an-sms/811488/5 "2018-03-31T01:52:59Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > I have a friend who’s being harrassed by an ex… That’s what protection orders are for. Tell her to get one. Then it is illegal. Should be easy; she has documentation on the phone of messages sent to her. Even if he didn’t sign them, and uses different phones, the content of the messages is probably clear enough to a judge. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2018, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-illegal-to-spoof-your-phone-number-when-sending-an-sms/811488/6 "2018-03-31T02:58:34Z")
I have only a land line, and I have no LD carrier specified. I make all my long distance toil calls through my google-phone. As far as I know, there is nothing illegal about that. On my land line, I can also dial \*67 to disable caller-id. I have, as far as I know, no texting capability, and have never sent one, so I have no idea if different rules or laws apply. ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2018, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-illegal-to-spoof-your-phone-number-when-sending-an-sms/811488/7 "2018-03-31T03:11:22Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > I have only a land line, and I have no LD carrier specified. I make all my long distance toil calls through my google-phone. As far as I know, there is nothing illegal about that. > > On my land line, I can also dial \*67 to disable caller-id. > > I have, as far as I know, no texting capability, and have never sent one, so I have no idea if different rules or laws apply. How is this relevant in any way to the OP?