Cogeco phone subscriber... spoofed?! Or equipment failure?

Cogeco phone subscriber... spoofed?! Or equipment failure?
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urbanriot @ 24th Oct 02:16PM:
Cogeco phone subscriber... spoofed?! Or equipment failure?

I received a call from a friend who's having the strangest problem. Calls are being made to seemingly random numbers across the US with the subscriber's number appearing on the call display of the recipient. The call hangs up after answered and then the call is initiated again to the same number, sometimes once, sometimes twice, and it's infuriating the recipients. They're calling the Cogeco subscriber back and complaining, ranting or threatening to call the authorities. At times, the subscriber isn't even home when these calls are made and the complaints are left on their voice mail.

I instructed the subscriber to call Cogeco and after a couple weeks, Cogeco has called them back stating that there's no issue they can see.

I suggested they change their number if they can, and they're going to consider that, but I'm wondering if it's even possible to solve this problem if it's someone spoofing (why would they hang up?) or if it still could be an issue on Cogeco's end?

Any suggestions or advice? Thanks.
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Snickerdo @ 24th Oct 02:21PM:
Re: Cogeco phone subscriber... spoofed?! Or equipment failure?

At this point, let the people who are receiving the calls get in touch with their local authorities. If it's spoofing they'll be able to sort that out, and if it's a problem on Cogeco's end police involvement will get it fixed fast.

They shouldn't have to change their telephone number. None of this is any of their doing.
--
Give a man a hooker and he'll have fun for a night. Teach a man how to hire a hooker and he'll have fun for a lifetime.
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urbanriot @ 24th Oct 02:53PM:
Re: Cogeco phone subscriber... spoofed?! Or equipment failure?

I'm not exactly sure of the turnaround time if the American recipients contacted the authorities or FCC to sort this out, at least not fast enough to alleviate the frustration of the subscriber. I did tell the subscriber to agree with the complainant to contact the authorities as they threatened but he was still nervous by the experience.

I agree, they shouldn't have to change their number but I couldn't come up with a quick solution and I was curious from a Cogeco point of view if this is something they've heard of, or from another user that might have had a similar experience.
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Krispy @ 24th Oct 03:44PM:
Re: Cogeco phone subscriber... spoofed?! Or equipment failure?

It's the voice equivalent of joe jobbing someone. I've had it happen on my cell phone a few times - having strangers yell at you for something you didn't do is always fun.

There's not a whole heck of alot Cogeco can do, we might be able to trace origin back to provider we received the call from but then it's up to the next provider and the next and the next and typically it crosses international boundaries and then there's all kinda of legal fun. That said we're always trying to find solutions but reality is it's not very successful. Law enforcement sometimes get involved but not much ever comes of that either due to international boundaries, I'm sure they could eventually track it down if it was really serious but thus far I haven't personally seen them put that much effort into it.
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you can lead a horse to the water but you cannot make him drink...you can put a man through school but you cannot make him think --ben harper

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Snickerdo @ 24th Oct 04:03PM:
Re: Cogeco phone subscriber... spoofed?! Or equipment failure?

said by Krispy :

I'm sure they could eventually track it down if it was really serious but thus far I haven't personally seen them put that much effort into it.

Which is why the person who's phone number is being spoofed shouldn't be all too concerned. Yeah, having a nasty voicemail every now and then is annoying, but in the grand scheme of things they're not going to get in trouble or anything. Those occasional VMs will be far less aggravating than the annoyance of having to change their primary telephone number.
--
Give a man a hooker and he'll have fun for a night. Teach a man how to hire a hooker and he'll have fun for a lifetime.
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