Can You Block a Spoofed Number?

Forgive me if this has been covered, but can you block the "real number" when the Caller ID number is spoofed? I have a debt collector looking for someone who had my phone number years ago (Trans World Collections) and they call constantly. The call back number is the same, but each call has a different local number that changes daily or hourly. I'm pretty sure the Caller ID is spoofed.

It's a scam.  A real debt collector wouldn't risk the big fine for harassing you like that or give a spoofed number.

If they are spoofing the number, then the calls they are making are illegal, and their operation is probably sketchy too.

Perhaps I was unclear on my question. Do phones have the ability to know which number is actually calling, and block that number, rather than just blocking what the Caller ID number is? So if number XXX-XXXX is calling you, but the ID reads, "AAA_AAAA", will the phone block only the "AAA-AAAA" number?

"A real debt collector" is quite capable of devious, annoying, and harassing behavior, as many civil complaints beside my own have chronicled.

The title question is a little absurd. You can block anything you like. Nobody will stop you.

Semantics aside, call blocking relies on simple pattern matching. Your device or software obeys a command to do something, like suppress a ring or play a sound file or forward to the Phantom Zone, when it detects on Caller ID "xxx-nnn-nnnn" or other character string of your choosing. This is a reactive technology. You have to instruct the gadget before the call arrives, so you'll always need at least one sample of the offending number to plug in, else preset entire exchanges and area codes.

The guy who invents a little black box to "traceroute" and unmask the true source of every mystery call could become a millionaire in eight weeks. The phone carriers themselves have trouble working that magic. The only potential approach would be running all your phone traffic through a commercial account which gives you the Automatic Number Identification (ANI) feature, and even that is not foolproof.

It should not surprise anyone that very determined nuisance callers are adopting strategies to counteract call blockers. Machine dialing makes it trivial to blast off calls with a few hundred different Caller ID tags. A skiptracing debt collector approaches from multiple angles, motivated by an assumption that the alleged debtor is "running away from bills". The fact that the hunted party will never be found where they are looking doesn't seem to bother them all. Spoofing Caller ID is cheap and easy, but then so are VOIP numbers. Debt collectors are known to purchase local numbers, even to target a single person.

Call blocker mole whacking is a tiresome game which you are set to lose. Long known as a bad actor, TransWorld Systems is not going to stop prodding you until you change its motivation. You don't say if you've given verbal notice to quit. Anyone familiar with my work knows that I advocate direct confrontation. Make them accountable on a paper trail. Make USPS Certified Mail your new best friend. Make it the debt collector's problem to cure. My advice for "not me" cases is linked next.

https://800notes.com/forum/ta-34af6a034ba34b6/unending-collection-calls

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For those of you scoring at home, TransWorld was a subsidiary of mega-collector Expert Global Solutions until it was sold off a year after a major FTC smackdown.

World's Largest Debt Collection Operation Settles FTC Charges, Will Pay $3.2 Million Penalty
Largest Civil Penalty Ever Obtained by the FTC Against a Third-party Debt Collector
https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-release ... tc-charges-will

I have received calls from my own number which is a spoof call, I blocked it (if I try to call my own number from my phone I get a busy signal so why not block it) and it worked the number was blocked the next time it called. I get calls from Debt collectors all the time and I have had the same number for over 20 years, so it doesn't have to be someone who had the number before you. I have no debt, so it's probably just another scam

Same thing happened to me but they were looking for another person.  It is possible someone picked a random phone number to add to their contact information trying to avoid debt collectors.  I had called them back and they did remove my number.  I no longer do that because you never know if they are legitimate.  I told them they have the wrong number and was never asked for personal information.  I just block them now.

Its also possible that some deadbeat bought something he didn't plan to pay for and put a fake phone number on the loan paperwork.  That happened to me.  I was able to tell the caller "I know you are a debt collector.  Michael does not live here.  You have GOT to stop calling."  It worked.  After that I only got one more call looking for Michael.  That turned out to be a 3rd-party debt collector.

Unfortunately. the phone only knows what it's been told, so if it thinks AAA-AAAA is calling it, that's the number it will block.

Been getting spoofed scam calls all week from the same number except for the last 2 digits which have varied, they're using a local exchange as a ruse.  Just wondering if I can block by entering the number in my contacts using the first 8 digits and ** for the last 2, then blocking that number, ie 999-999-99**.  Just tried it, we'll see if it works.

It depends on how your blocking feature works.  On my previous cell phone I could wild card block.  For example, I could select it to block any number with caller ID containing any length of numbers, from just an area code to an entire number.  I had one repeat spammer change the last two digits of the number displayed, so I told my phone to block any number containing XXX-XXX-XX.

Verizon will effectively block these numbers but WILL NOT ALLOW YOU TO BLOCK MORE THAN 20 NUMBERS FOR SOME IDIOTIC REASON.. Any suggestions on how to force Verizon to allow more than 20 numbers would be very appreciated.. I have over 200 numbers that need to be blocked.

I went out and bought a call blocker and I have no problems and no worries.