Spoofing a neighbor's phone call.

} why spoofing a legitimate number is legal.

We have to stop regarding "legitimacy" of phone numbers, apart perhaps from those which don't fit the North American Numbering Plan. Phone numbers can be unassigned yet still "legitimate" as they are capable of facilitating phone traffic. Capable phone numbers can only have legitimate or illegitimate uses.

What makes Caller ID spoofing illegal, immoral, or otherwise objectionable rests always on the intent of the spoofer. Congress and regulators have long acknowledged that everyone's privacy rights can be eroded if we don't limit punishment to knowing or willful abusers of the phone system.

We've had this discussion many times around here, as in this exchange fourteen months ago:
https://800notes.com/forum/ta-ffdb1ac1f777812 ... 222862919050396

Robo call about credit card interest rates.” the caller ID showed a number with the first six digits the same as my cell phone.  I pushed one to talk to someone (my objective is to waste as much time of theirs as I can). I was transferred to a guy with maybe an Indian accent who asked, “how are you today” I said I am fine. He asked how much do I owe on my credit cards? I said 15K. (I don’t owe any money on cards.) He asked which card had the most. I said my Visa. I let him talk about how I was paying too much interest and they could drop my interest rate. I asked a few questions. Then he wanted me to go get my card. While I was pretending to look for it I ask him a few questions about how his system worked. The I asked if his company maintained a do not call list. He did not understand. I told him that I did not think that they maintained a do not call list. He still seemed confused. I told him I had no problem with him and he was lucky to have a job but I did have a problem with the people he worked for because they were bad people.  He hung up.  I kept them occupied for 5 minutes!

This is very common in my area. One would think that they would only spoof disconnected local numbers, but they are spoofing legitimate numbers in many cases, which results in harassing  phone calls to the real owner of the phone number. This has happened with a neighbor, and in a big way with a local electric utility whose real number was spoofed by a scamming solar company.

Why would criminals care if the number they spoof belongs to someone and results in harassing phone calls to that person?

Robo call about a vacation package. The number on the caller ID had the first 5 digits the same as my number I pushed 1 to talk to someone, (my objective is to waste as much time of theirs as I can). After a short hold, a robo lady came on and asked a few questions which I answered correctly to ensure I would get through to a person. I was put on hold for 15 minutes then Dallas (a real person) came on the line. She had an American accent. She said she worked for a resort developer. The offer was for two trips, one to Cancun and one to Costa Rica for a total of $998 and would require you to listen to a 90-minute time share presentation. I let her talk. And she talked for 15 minutes all the while asking what kind of activities I like and such. I asked her what was the name of the development company and she said, “Cancun Special Promotions” She then transferred me to another woman, maybe Candice, who wanted to know if I had any questions. I said I wanted the telephone number to Cancun Special Promotions. She said that she was at a call center representing six resorts and that telephone number would do me no good.  I said I had a problem with business that did not give out telephone numbers and I had a problem with telemarketers that did not maintain Do Not Call Lists. She said that they did maintain a do not call list. I said you better put me on it. She said she could do that and hung up. But the line did not disconnect. I stayed connected until the total connect time showed 1 hour and 9 minutes.  I wasted about 13 minutes of an actual personnel time of theirs.

I have gotten 4 calls from MY OWN NUMBER. I highly recommend an app called YouMail. It allows you to "blacklist" so that if these kinds of calls get through, the caller will hear the "this number is no longer in service" recording. It has helped immensely. Blocking them on my iPhone hasn't really worked as well, but I try to do both. The app has levels of service. I use just the Essential level. Good luck!

} I have gotten 4 calls from MY OWN NUMBER.
.... which is not the topic of this thread. The "Mirror Spoof" was the subject of 35 forum threads which began four years ago next week and finally lost steam last summer. This might be new to you but not the alert readers. I would add that call blocker raves are also not the topic here and can be eyed suspiciously as covert spam.

Ignoring the fact that your post reads like a shill post for that product, I doubt that the products outgoing message is going to deal with robocalls any better than any other blocker that just picks up and then hangs up.  You might as well just answer and hurl a string of expletives at the robocaller, it still would not understand what is being said.  If the proper three note SIT tone is played before the message, the calling device might acknowledge the number as "disconnected", but do not count on it placing your number on a "do not bother to call" list.  More than likely, if your number were to go on a list it would be a list for the purpose of using it for future spoofing when calling other people (and considering that you have received 4 calls from your own number, you are probably on one of those lists.)  Besides, automated dialing equipment can tell the difference between the phone company sending the SIT tones plus the accompanying "out of service" message and your phone picking up and trying to emulate the same.  The former never connects the call, the latter does make a detectable connection before the message starts.  While the message might fool some human callers, more and more of these calls are being done by machines.

Robo call about a vacation package. The number on the caller ID had the first 5 digits the same as my number I pushed 1 to talk to someone, (my objective is to waste as much time of theirs as I can). Fredrico came on the line with a poor connection. The offer was for two trips, one to Cancun and one to Costa Rica for a total of $998 and would require you to listen to a 90-minute time share presentation. I let him talk. He said he was in Cancun.  I asked him what was the name of the company and he said, “Cancun Special Promotions” When he wanted my credit card I said I wanted a telephone number. He then transferred me to Hector, who wanted to know if I had any questions. I said I wanted the telephone number to Cancun Special Promotions. He said I would get that after I signed up.  I insisted I wanted the number first.  Then we argued for several minutes with him telling me he was smarter than me. He eventually hung up. I kept them on the line for 19 minutes!!

Robo call about a vacation package. Mentioned wyndham hotels The number on the caller ID had the first 5 digits the same as my number I pushed 1 to talk to someone, (my objective is to waste as much time of theirs as I can). A guy came on the line and asked how are you doing today, I said fine. I let him talk and ask questions Same old stuff. He said he was with Explore Mayan Getaways The offer was for two trips, one to Cancun and one to Dominican Republic for a total of $999 and would require you to tour their resort. He transferred me to Robert.  I let him talk. He said he was in Cancun.  He said the first trip would be at the Omni in Cancun. I said my problem was with the robo calling method that they are using to get customers.  He said he was not here to argue with anybody and hung up. I kept them busy for 15 minutes.

You are getting better at it.  If we could find out the name of the real company we would have something.

I wonder if these are not just some guys leasing space at call centers. And I wonder if they are also leasing the front line personnel from the call center. If that is the case, the call centers are also guilty. They would have no interest in determining if their customers are making legal calls. Same is true of the phone companies, they are also making money on leasing lines to the call centers.