Telegram bot for phone calls with spoofed caller ID

After a recent Bellingcat investigation many were surprised at how to call someone from a different number. For example, from their boss’s or colleague’s number. Such a capability really exists. FBK used IP-telephony settings to spoof the caller ID, and prankster software to fake the voice. Now all these tools are available to anyone via a Telegram bot, Kommersant writes.

That way the caller can pass themselves off as a relative, friend, or the victim’s employer for the purpose of extortion, experts believe.

After paying for the service the bot allows you to enter the subscriber’s number and the caller ID that will appear on their screen into a special field. Right now the bot is glitching badly under the influx of users.

Aleksey Drozd, head of information security at SearchInform, explained to Kommersant that most often fraudsters pretend to be a bank security service and during the call persuade the victim to transfer money to the scammer’s account. According to Central Bank statistics, about 80% of fraudsters calling on behalf of financial organizations use number spoofing. In the first half of 2020 the Central Bank blocked 9,700 fraudulent numbers. The State Duma committee on the financial market is preparing an initiative to combat number spoofing.

The appearance of a bot in Telegram won’t help fraudsters, because they already have specialized tools. This just makes the service available to a wider range of ordinary people. There’s a chance the bot was launched by law enforcement to increase the detection rate of this type of crime.

Most mobile subscribers will eventually get used to the fact that caller ID on a mobile phone does not provide reliable information about the caller.