For years, anyone has been able to fake the callerID information that is passed along when you make phone calls. The process is known as CallerID spoofing. All one has to do is use one of the pay services that acts as proxy and you could be making your phone calls show up as coming from the FBI, the IRS, or even the Whitehouse!

The possibilities are endless. People use them to harass others, hide their identify, identity theft, and they are even used by bill collectors to scare debtors shitless. It is next to impossible to trace and would require multiple subpeanas to locate the actual caller. It is even rumored that the 9-11 hijackers used similar methods to hide themselves.

There is a bill that was just passed by The House of Representatives that makes it illegal for anyone to fake their Caller ID for illicit purposes. Yes, there really are legitimate uses for faking caller ID. For instance, let's say a company has a call center in India and they want the caller ID to show up as a domestic call …. incase they get disconnected and the customer needs to call back. There's even a free demo available of such services available at Fake Caller ID and Caller ID Spoofing these services are offered by Cdyne and showcase a product available for corporate clients.

I guess no more faking calls to my family from the IRS about an impending tax audit! Just kidding!