The caller ID says "relative," but it's not necessarily a real caller.
Recently, phone number spoofing has emerged as a new threat, as malicious actors can make the recipient's screen display the correct number of anyone – from relatives and friends to banks and government agencies.
Alarmingly, the combination of phone number spoofing with AI voice impersonation technology is catching many people off guard, creating opportunities for increasingly sophisticated and difficult-to-detect scams.
Simply entering the number allows you to spoof calls.
According to Tuoi Tre Online 's investigation, an application has emerged that allows users to spoof phone numbers when making calls. For example, even if a user doesn't own the phone number 0999 999 999, they can simply enter this number into the application and make a call to another subscriber. The recipient's screen will then display the exact phone number that was entered.
Notably, this method can impersonate a large portion of the phone numbers currently used by mobile network operators in Vietnam.
Many people mistakenly believe this is an act of hacking into the network's system; however, that's not entirely true. This is a long-standing vulnerability in global telecommunications systems, designed decades ago.
This mechanism allows the caller to freely declare their displayed phone number with virtually no rigorous verification process. This very loophole has become a tool exploited by malicious actors for fraudulent purposes.
When familiar phone numbers become a trap.
A call back could help you avoid losing money unnecessarily.
The most dangerous aspect is that fraudsters can impersonate the phone numbers of relatives, banks, or numbers already saved in the contact list. When a call comes in, the phone will display the familiar contact name, leaving the recipient with almost no suspicion.
If combined with AI voice spoofing technology, the level of danger increases even further. With just a few short recordings, current AI tools can recreate voices that sound quite realistic, creating convincing fake calls.
Numerous situations can arise, such as impersonating parents or siblings to call and claim an emergency requiring immediate money transfer; or impersonating bank employees to request OTP codes, passwords, or account information to "verify transactions".
In a state of panic or with absolute trust in the phone number displayed on the screen, many people easily become victims.
What can we do to avoid falling into the trap?
Always double-check before providing important information.
Experts advise that the most important principle is not to blindly trust the phone number displayed on the incoming call screen.
If you receive a call asking for money transfers, OTP codes, passwords, or important personal information, you should immediately end the call and proactively call back the correct number. The reason is that scammers can only impersonate the incoming caller, but cannot receive calls back through the impersonated number.
Additionally, with family members, you can agree on a private "password" beforehand. In an emergency situation requiring quick verification, simply asking this specific phrase will allow you to check if the person on the other end of the line is indeed a family member.
Some network operators have also started implementing measures to identify fraudulent calls. For example, with Viettel , if they detect a call from an international location that appears to be fraudulent, the displayed phone number may include a +1 prefix instead of starting with the usual 0.
Nevertheless, users still need to be proactive and vigilant, as scam technology is becoming increasingly sophisticated and changing faster than any preventative measures. In an era where even voices and phone numbers can be faked, vigilance is the most important layer of protection against seemingly familiar calls.
Source: https://tuoitre.vn/canh-bao-chieu-gia-mao-so-dien-thoai-nguoi-than-de-lua-dao-20260422111728377.htm
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