In the latest news about caller ID spoofing legislation, the U.S. House Energy Commerce Committee advanced a bill meant to prevent telephone advertisers from duping citizens into answering telemarketing phone calls by hiding their phone numbers using caller ID spoofing systems. This legislation is called “The Truth in Caller ID Act of 2009,” and is headed to the U.S. House of Representatives for a vote. While many professionals use caller ID spoofing for legitimate business purposes (such as a lawyer who wants to return a client’s call from their cell phone without disclosing their personal number), enough advertisers have attempted to mislead citizens by using false caller ID information that legislation has been deemed necessary. However, lawmakers are doing their best to keep caller ID spoofing services intact for the businesspeople and private citizens who use them for legitimate purposes. Of course, law enforcement and agents of national security are exempt.

Call Spoofing has many legitimate uses, despite the rather unfortunate connotations of “Fake Caller Id.” In some industries, such as businesses with telecommuting employees, the ability to change the number on a caller ID can act as a powerful branding tool. It is also a method of bolstering trust in the client.

Unfortunately, many of us have been faced by the difficulty of a cheating partner or spouse. Learning your loved one has been cheating, or even suspecting it, can be devastating. It is often difficult to prove, conclusively, that the cheating is occurring. Most of the options available are intrusive or expensive. Hiring a private detective or attempting to follow your partner yourself are often poor solutions. Instead, many are turning to technology like call spoofing as a tool for catching their cheating partner.

As broadband internet and VoIP technology becomes commonplace, more and more offices have employees working remotely. Some of these telecommuting employees are work at home mothers, or employees with disabilities. Some are outsourced talent, who may work in another state, or even another country. So how do companies maintain their integrity with such a disparate work force? While it’s possible to tie everyone together online with email signatures and usernames, how can companies do the same for business calls? The answer is call spoofing!

A recent episode of Law & Order SVU recently featured the Fake Caller ID technology as part of the mystery of one of the cases. This particular case involved a teenager using text message spoofing to send harassing and lewd images of an underage girl. The funny thing about the episode is that none of [...]