If the Village of Barnwell calls you, we will leave a message. If it is a hang-up please do not respond. Why? Read on …
Someone is using the Village of Barnwell phone number to “spoof” people. Spoofing is when someone hides their Caller ID by using a government or business number Caller ID to call a potential victim of a scam. There are a lot reasons someone might want to hid their Caller ID, but by using a fake or spoof Caller ID they can avoid you blocking their number, or encourage someone to pick up because they think it is a call from an official organization.
Tripwire [dot] com provides a simple explanation:
Anyone can spoof their outbound Caller ID by using an online service … [these services] allow anyone willing to pay to spoof numbers. These services are meant to protect the caller’s number from being displayed and claim they aren’t intended for malicious purposes, but they have limited control over who uses the service.
There are always multiple victims when a scammer uses Caller ID spoofing. The main victim is the receiver that answers the telephone call with a number being spoofed, aka the target of the scam.
The secondary victim is the owner of the number; their number is being used without permission.
Tripwire: Caller ID Spoofing – What It Is and What to do About It
Protect Yourself
If the Village of Barnwell calls you, we will always leave a message if we need to reach you. If it is a hang-up please do not respond.
If you believe you have been a target of a spoof call, you may report the event to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre.