Since that time, the growth of the system has been phenomenal worldwide. In phone systems everywhere Caller ID programs are used daily and for many different reasons. As the title of this article suggests, it is used to identify the person calling or to prevent unwanted calls from ever being taken. Many companies use it for exhibiting their main phone number in many different locations. Some telemarketing companies will use it to show their main 800 toll free number to the consumer. That way all return calls will go there, allowing their customers not to incur long distance charges.

There is also misuse of the caller ID. Some unscrupulous marketers will hide their true ID so as the customer does not know who is calling. In the United States, it is now possible for individuals and companies to file civil suit over the use of fake caller or incorrect caller ID. In addition to that, the Federal Communications Commission may fine businesses or individuals that are spoofing or blocking their caller ID.

The use of caller ID is as common as use of the phone in this modern day and age. Many people today rely on caller ID to not have to field calls that they have no desire to take. An example of this would be that someone has listed for a boat for sale. After placing the ad in the paper, interested buyers begin calling for particulars as to the asking price, the age, condition and other details. Once the boat has been sold, the seller wishes not to discuss the boat any further. Upon seeing that someone is calling that the seller does not know, they can decline the call.

In 1995 caller ID was enhanced with what is commonly known as call waiting ID. This is where the recipient has the options of taking the incoming call and putting the first call on hold, hanging up and going to the second call, sending a ‘Please Hold’ message to the incoming call, sending the incoming call to voice mail or having the incoming call join the existing call. Of course these are only possible with certain types of phones that have a capacity for those functions.

One problem with caller ID is that while they will prevent a fake caller from contacting you, they can also prevent communication that is desirable. Take for example the person who has lost their employment. Credit card companies, banks, and other creditors will begin calling the consumer who in turn can see that they are calling, and not answer the phone. This is not a solution for either party and could lead to a larger problem due to evasiveness.

They give some bogus information referring the victim to sources that they have already set up in an attempt to gain the trust of the victim. People have been scammed out of thousands and tens of thousands of dollars from scams like this. Having a caller ID service in place can help to deter these things from ever happening. There are many other uses for a caller ID service as well other than just keeping criminals at bay. Often times there are families with young daughters that may be dating much older men that should not be dating the young girl. This is just an example, but these men may try to contact the daughter through the use of the household phone. Having caller ID on the household phone would identify this person’s true identity. This information can then be passed on to law enforcement so they can take legal measures to put that person in jail if need be.

Fake callers are one of the biggest nuisances people deal with every day through their telephone. These fake callers can be anyone from telemarketers trying to sell something, to political parties and survey people. These people cause huge inconveniences in the lives of many average people. Most people do not want to answer the phone to find they are speaking to a telemarketer. The same goes for people who are doing surveys and also political candidates that are trying to get votes or pass on other information that is not wanted. In this day and age with so many people in financial debt, the amount of people calling individuals phones to collect debt and other information is far higher than ever before.

Having caller ID will alert individuals if someone from a specific business or organization is calling simply to collect a debt. People who are in debt will choose when they want to call these companies, and until then there is really no reason for bill collectors to keep calling over and over again. Some of these organizations will have people calling at seven in the morning, and at ten at night when most people are in bed or getting ready for bed. Behavior like that is just rude, and pushes people further away from talking to a person that is trying to collect a debt. Having a caller ID service in place will stop all of the fake callers trying to steal information, and also all of the other unwanted people who try to communicate over the telephone.

Before you unplug the phone in your house to get some work done, consider a different option: Caller ID. Caller ID can help you tell who is calling, when. With caller ID, when a person calls, you’ll be able to find out what phone number it is. So, the next time someone calls you and asks, “Is your phone running? If so, you’d better go and catch it,” you may be able to stop them from calling you again.

When you sign up for caller ID, you are able to identify the number on the screen. Sometimes a name will appear on the screen as well. So, if, for example, someone from school is calling and harassing your child, you will not only be able to find out the phone number that is calling, but also the person who is calling (if available). If the person who is not calling, a general number will be displayed and either “unknown” (usually the case with cell phones) or from what location they are in (for example, ‘New York’.)

Caller ID is great at determining a fake caller. If you’ve had heard the “is your refrigerator…” joke one too many times, it’s high time that you got your act in gear and asked for caller ID. You can write down the number of the prank caller and easily block them from calling you again. If you don’t want to block them from calling but don’t want to answer future calls, you can simply make a note to yourself not to answer any of their calls.

The nice thing about Caller ID is that it is purely beneficial, and there are no drawbacks too it. It works instantly, giving you real-time results. Most caller ID programs can tell you who is calling even before you pick up the phone. Caller ID will help you keep those pesky prank callers – and even those annoying, harassing callers – away from you.

Caller ID is very useful if you own a small business such as freelance writing. Quickly scan out important calls from clients and calls from your friends and family. Don’t feel like you have to answer every call, know who’s calling you! Even if you are a stay at home mom, caller ID can help you determine how quickly you should pick up the call, or if you even need to pick up the phone at all.

Overall, caller ID is a great way to make sure fake callers don’t bother you. It’s a great service without drawbacks.

What not to do when prank calling:
Most of the time prank calling is just an innocent joke, but it is possible to commit a crime when doing so. When is prank calling a crime? Prank calling is a crime when:
- You steal someone’s identity;
- You commit sexual harassment;
- You commit phone harassment.

Besides these three things anything goes!

A few ways to make a prank call:

Online Calling Services
The simplest way of making an anonymous prank call is by using an online calling service. If you don’t have an account with one of these companies, you have to make an account. Next you dial the number online and there you go, anonymous phone call! No one will ever find out it was you. Unless you mention your name or your voice is recognized. The next tip will have a way to disguise your voice.

Spoofing tools
There are tools you can use to mislead a caller ID. These are called spoofing tools. These are legal under most circumstances. However, if you use it to steal someone’s identity, you will be in a lot of trouble. Don’t worry though, if you’re just pranking a friend, most likely the police won’t show up at your house.

There are many well-known, quality spoofing tools and the websites. The first call is usually free and after that you pay a little fee. The tools are super easy to use. You enter the phone number you want to call, generate a fake phone number that will appear on the caller ID of your victim, choose to use a voice disguise or not, record the message and your prank call will be made!

Dial *67
A much easier, but less fun way to block the caller ID is to dial *67 before you enter the phone number. This can just be done on your phone and does not require any tools off of the internet. How to do this: We’ll use the example number 555 123 4567. You don’t dial 555 123 4567 if you want to block caller ID. No. Instead, you deal *67 555 123 4567.

Of course there are many other ways to avoid the caller ID, but I named the easiest and most convenient ways.

Some people even go so far as to prank call vital medical and policing services for their own amusement. Fortunately, there is a form of defense against these telephone originating crimes. It comes in the form of caller ID. This is technology’s way of fighting the war against prank calls and identity theft criminals. This service can basically identify prank callers, or any other callers that may be labeled as untrustworthy. The way this service works is pretty easy to understand, but it has a huge effect against crimes and prank calls. When someone is trying to call another person, their information is sent on its way over to the phone company that runs the phone service for the person they are trying to call. The phone company that the second person has their phone service through then verifies the information sent to them, and sends it to the caller ID equipment of the call receiver.

The number, and also the billing information or name of the person that is calling shows up on the caller ID box. Having this kind of service allows individuals with even the most limited knowledge to take control of their phone and put an end to suspicious and malicious types of calls to their telephone. Other than prank calls and calls from people trying to steal information, there are also the telemarketers. A caller ID service is going to heavily impact the amount of affect that telemarketers have on a person. This may sound a bit rough regarding telemarketers, but the majority of the population does not like to receive calls from these people. These types of calls are considered a huge nuisance.

This is especially true for people that have busy important lives, and are generally kind to most people. There are the people who can just receive calls from a telemarketer and instantly hang up on them once they realize they are speaking to one. Generally kind people find it rude to just hang up on another human being regardless of what they are trying to sell, or say. These people who are kind and have important busy lives can’t afford to take time out of their day to gently tell telemarketers to not call their phone. Having a caller ID service will allow an individual to identify a telemarketer when they call, and never engage the phone call in the first place.

With this Caller ID app, consumers have the power to reject all unwanted callers, by ignoring all calls from a no call list which you can compile. When unwanted callers ring you, all they’ll hear is a message telling them that your number has been disconnected. Caller ID technology was first introduced in the 1990s. Consumers at the time, could dial * 6-7, or ask their phone carrier to conceal their number when making outgoing calls. To start a reject list, all you have to do is to write down the full phone number, including the area code from the Caller ID, and then perform a reverse phone search. A reverse phone search, ideally reveals the person’s contact information, consisting of their name and address. Once you let the unwanted callers know that you have their personal information, this is guaranteed to stop all annoying calls. A majority of these unblocking Caller ID tools offer different tiers of service plans. One version offers a straight Caller ID unblocking feature which allows consumers to set up unwanted caller lists. The other versions offer additional features, to include voice mail transcription, incoming call recording features, plus other tools.

These new products work by sending a blocked number through a software system that identifies the initiating phone number. That phone number is then sent to the person receiving the call. The person answering the call can then decide whether they want to accept that call. When you get a call on your phone, showing a blocked number, you then hit “decline.” Even though the caller will hear ringing in the background, with a disconnect message attached, within a few seconds, your phone will start ringing again, but at this time, it will display the caller’s phone number, even if it has been blocked. Right now, this new app service can be downloaded on the phone carrier or each app company’s web site. Presently, this Caller ID unblock app is only available with a limited number of telecommunication carriers, but other carriers will soon offer the unblock Caller ID apps. The unblock Caller ID services, invite consumers to try them for free for a certain amount of time, followed by a non-contract service, which can be canceled at any time.

There are acts that have been put into place to give unwitting average people who know nothing about the activity a little bit of protection regarding caller ID spoofing. This act basically makes it unlawful to spoof caller ID information. Although many try to use the system for fraud, caller ID spoofing actually has legitimate purposes as well. An example of this would be for law enforcement. Caller ID spoofing can be utilized by law enforcement as a tool that they can use to their advantage when trying to capture wanted suspects. People trying to evade paying child support are often discovered through the use of legitimate caller ID spoofing put into place by law enforcement.

People who suspect their spouses may be cheating can also use it legitimately to create their own individual investigation. If clients require a phone number to be shown when calls are made doctors who are on call may want to change their caller ID, or effectively block their number. The many fraudulent types of uses associated with caller ID spoofing greatly outweigh all of the legitimate ones. Caller ID spoofing basically allows anyone to spoof their ID to make it appear as if they are some sort of charity, law enforcement, government agencies, and basically anything that comes to the imagination. Many hackles have been raised with government officials because of the potential abuse that this technology can offer. It is because of this information that is important to be very cautious each and every time the phone rings.

It is even more important to not trust what shows on the caller ID all the time. This is especially true for phone calls where personal information such as credit card numbers is disclosed. One of the best ways to defend against these sorts of crimes is to simply never give out personal information over the phone. This is true regardless of what the caller ID equipment says. If there is anyone calling saying that an individual has won something, or stands to possibly lose something, the best bet is to just hang up the phone. After which, an individual is better off just researching online or somewhere they can find a legitimate number to call the business or individuals back so it is totally legitimate.

Crank calls have existed for many years and were especially popular among musicians, media trainers, and sound engineers in the 1970’s. Comedian Jerry Lewis was one of the most famous crank callers of all times. No doubt if Queen Elizabeth had used Caller ID, she would have known she was talking to a fake caller, not the Prime Minister of Canada.

Another famous crank call was when someone from Miami radio station Radio El Zol called Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and pretended to be Cuban President Fidel Castro. Someone from the station also called Castro and pretended to be Chavez. Castro swore live on the air when he knew he was the victim of a prank. The radio station was fined $4,000 by the Federal Government after the prank call.

Ordinary people are often the victim of crank calls, sometimes by other ordinary people, sometimes by celebrities. Two writers for the “Howard Stern Show,” have called ordinary people at home, public access shows, and radio stations, pulling various practical jokes. Various performers, including Roy D. Mercer, Tom Mabe, and the Jerky Boys, have recorded albums of their crank calls. “Crank Yankers,” a television show features real life crank calls celebrities have made. Puppets reenact the pranks.

Crank calls are not always funny to everyone, at least other than the person making them. Sometimes people make prank calls to 911. Some crank calls have included bomb threats. For almost a decade someone called radio stations and pretended to be a police detective. He encouraged managers to conduct strip searches of female employees. Often the calls were made to fast food restaurants in small towns. More than 70 such calls were made to businesses in 30 states. A man was arrested and tried for the calls but was acquitted. No doubt the fake caller who made the crank calls would not have wanted the recipient to be able to use a Caller ID.

One crank call in Perth Australia allegedly involved a drunken teenager on New Year’s Eve who called an anti-terrorist hotline to report a bomb threat. The threat was against the New Year’s Eve fireworks celebrations. The celebrations were almost cancelled before police discovered no threat existed. The teenager was arrested for making the call.

In America, crank calls are a felony because of the Telecommunications Act of 1996. Depending on the severity of the call, a violator can spend two years in prison and be fined.

The screen is needed in order for the user to view the number and name of the person that is calling them. Caller ID will not work for phones that are dial up types, because there is no screen for it to work. This could easily be seen as an advantage of getting caller ID for a household as it would force the user to update their phone. The caller ID feature will screen all calls, and it can be set up to not answer numbers that come up as blocked or unknown numbers. These can often times be people running a prank call, or a fake caller working through the phone. Numbers that come up unknown are generally from a specific group containing four different possible callers.

These are telemarketers, political candidates, charities, and survey agencies. Most people don’t enjoy talking to any of these individuals, and that could be a good reason why they do not reveal their true identity. Being on the do not call list in the US will stop calls from a lot of individuals working with these organizations, but there are a few that can still call. These are charities, surveyors, and also political candidates. These are the individuals that can still call people on that list. Having caller ID set up is a great defense against the majority of these individuals. One small glance at the information provided by the caller ID will allow an individual to know whether or not the person on the other end of the phone is someone they want to speak to, or if it is one of the above mentioned individuals.

Other people often find themselves in positions where they are being bombarded with frightening calls, and people who are harassing them. Caller ID allows a person to report the caller to the phone company which will put an end to obscene or harassing calls from unknown people. One more advantage to having caller ID allows a person to see who was calling while they are busy. There are situations all the time where individuals are busy doing something and just cannot answer the phone at that time. Having caller ID allows the person to see who was calling which enables them to call the person back when they are no longer busy.

Control Your Voice
You especially don’t want to sound nervous when making a prank call. You also don’t want to sound as though you’re outwardly laughing at the recipient as this will quickly have them ending the call. If at all possible you need to sound confident and in control like you know what you are talking about. While it may be funny for the call to end quickly it will be extremely hilarious if you convince them of something and leave them never knowing any better.

Natural Conversation
Keep the conversation as normal as possible so as not to lead them into the assumption that this is in fact a prank call. Remember to give them time to talk as well as their responses are what make the whole thing entertaining. This also allows you to play off their responses as opposed to trying to just make jokes. The more natural the conversation the longer you will have the “victim” on the phone thus the longer you are entertained.

Try Not To Laugh
As hilarious as their response might be you cannot laugh. While it might frustrate them laughing is without a doubt major tip off to the fact that it is a prank call as opposed to a normal one. If you can’t control yourself, you are more than likely not going to be a successful pranker. If you find that you have to laugh just remember to mute your phone so that the listener cannot hear you.

The Best People to Prank Call
You can prank call just about anyone but the best people are the ones for businesses. These are people who receive mass inbound calls a day and probably hear weird things on a majority of those calls. This means that they are less likely to notice that it is a prank call. They also have to put up with more due to the fact that it would not look good on them to hang up or lose their temper at work. All you need is a phone book and the possibilities are endless.

Just remember these few helpful tips to prank calling and all your calls will continuously be hilarious for yourself and others as well regardless of whether or not the recipient has Caller ID.