Scam phone call using LDS Tools

I just received a scam Publisher's Clearinghouse phone call from LDS Tools that went to voicemail as a restricted number. The LDS Tools contact was a legitimate contact from a nearby unit in my stake.
The caller had a heavy unfamiliar accent and gave me two different numbers to call that were supposed to be for PCH. I did not respond. I reported the scam to PCH, but the use of LDS Tools bothers me the most.
Just thought someone should know!

Do you know they got your number via LDS Tools? If a person shows up on an LDS Tools caller ID notification, it means that LDS Tools on your phone recognizes the phone number. It doesn't mean that the person on the end was using LDS Tools to make the call.

sbradshaw wrote:If a person shows up on an LDS Tools caller ID notification, it means that LDS Tools on your phone recognizes the phone number.

That's probably what happened. The caller ID can be spoofed to be anything the caller wants it to be. Many phone scammers are using area codes and even exchanges in the area of the person they're calling in hopes the target will answer.

In a heavily LDS area, the odds of the spoofed number being that of another member may not be high, but they'd be far from non-zero.

I agree. My cell number begins with 402-880-xxxx, and I receive numerous telemarketing robo-calls from spoofed 402-880-xxxx numbers. I don't even answer them anymore.

Have you got the solution?

kiranmiller wrote:Have you got the solution?

Short answer: There is no completely effective solution. Caller ID spoofing has the upper hand.

Long answer: IMO, the ideal solution would have been for caller ID to have been designed and implemented in the first place to be secure against spoofing. Unfortunately, we don't have that. Consequently, the burden has fallen on the shoulders of the person receiving the call. I understand there are applications available for doing call whitelist-based call screening. In practical terms, the only other solution is to simply not answer a call unless you recognize the exact number on caller ID. However, automated or manual whitelisting is not entirely guaranteed. The spammer/scammer could have lists of contact information and use specific numbers from those lists in order to look like someone on your whitelist.

I have heard of and might have seen cases where caller ID showed the same number as the phone that was being called--basically it appeared as if I was calling myself. Of course, that looked more suspicious than if it had been a different extension in the same area code and exchange.