Caller Id Spoofing In Thailand

[ChiangMaiThai]

I signed up for an account at spoofcard.com, which works in the US for calling someone and showing the caller ID of your choosing. They say it works for Thailand, but it doesn't. The number just shows as "unknown".

Is anyone aware of a system to spoof your caller ID in Thailand that actually works?

Thanks!

[GungaDin]

Why?

[fantuzi]

Why?

WHY NOT?

[GungaDin]

Why?

WHY NOT?

It's called DECEPTION, Dill.

Deception is illegal!

[Crossy]

Actually GD may be right.

IIRC it's not possible to disable caller ID on mobiles in Thailand, so spoofing them may actually be illegal.

By spoofing you're also masquerading as someone else, isn't 'unknown' good enough, it's hiding your ID.

[ChiangMaiThai]

Yes, the argument is going on in the US now. There are lot of valid reasons to use this. You can read a recent article from the Wall Street Journal here:

http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2010/02/05/the...ler-id-spoofing

"There are useful and legitimate applications of the software: A doctor who has to call back a patient late at night and doesn’t want them to have his home or cell phone number, for instance; A public relations specialist calling on behalf a client, and wanting the client’s name to pop up on the Caller ID display."

By the way, I have figured out a way to spoof a number in Thailand, but its not 100%. If you spoof a number that is already in the person's phone, it will show that name. But on some phones it will show the name AND number, but the Thai number has a +48 prefix. So to the caller who is paying attention, they will know that something is amiss.

If you spoof with a number that is not in their phone, the Thai number will show, but with a +48 prefix again. So not ideal.

As to the legality, if I am using a US based VOIP service to call a Thai mobile phone with a spoofed caller ID number, is there really a law on the books in Thailand and if so, am I really going to get extradited from the US for this?

Edited February 11, 2010 by ChiangMaiThai

[nikster]

http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2010/02/05/the...ler-id-spoofing

"There are useful and legitimate applications of the software: A doctor who has to call back a patient late at night and doesn’t want them to have his home or cell phone number, for instance; A public relations specialist calling on behalf a client, and wanting the client’s name to pop up on the Caller ID display."

For the doctor, a blocked caller ID would do. Blocking your caller ID is something you can usually turn on on the network level.

For the PR specialist calling on behalf of a client - as the recipient of the call, I don't want the client to show up when they're not actually the ones calling me. I don't see the use for this at all. I'd be pissed off, which would probably not be in the interest of the party calling me.

Why do you want to spoof your number? I have no idea whether it's illegal or not, and "deception" per se I doubt is illegal if there is no damaged party.

Edited February 12, 2010 by nikster

[george]

If you have AIS post paid you can hide your number with a value added service, but not spoof it.

[Cuban]

For the doctor, a blocked caller ID would do. Blocking your caller ID is something you can usually turn on on the network level.

I'm unsure if the comments in GD's post about Deception being illegal is true, if that were the case much of Thai commerce would be illegal - the subject for a different and longer thread I'm sure.

If I recall correctly from the days when Muslim militants were setting off or talking of setting off bombs in the South using mobile phones the program to have every mobile phone's SIM card registered to a Thai ID card or falang passport and change the network service providers settings to only allow network connection IF the cell-phone enabled the 'display your cell number' when attempting to make a call. Although the registration process fell by the wayside many years ago my AIS phone will not connect unless I display my number for out going calls.

Now, to the original question: I would take an educated guess that with many modern cell phones that with some coding using Symbian or similar you could get your phone to display anything you like as 'your' number, however....

If your motives are less than pure, be aware that each phone has a serial number, the IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity) number and that could also be used to trace where the call with a spoofed number was made from. If you key in the sequence * # 0 6 # your phone will display it's IMEI number.

I guess you might be able to spoof that as well, but if you need that level of security to hide your identity you really need better funding to employ IT professional level people to carry out these shady operations for you.

[GungaDin]

For the doctor, a blocked caller ID would do. Blocking your caller ID is something you can usually turn on on the network level.

I'm unsure if the comments in GD's post about Deception being illegal is true, if that were the case much of Thai commerce would be illegal - the subject for a different and longer thread I'm sure.

If I recall correctly from the days when Muslim militants were setting off or talking of setting off bombs in the South using mobile phones the program to have every mobile phone's SIM card registered to a Thai ID card or falang passport and change the network service providers settings to only allow network connection IF the cell-phone enabled the 'display your cell number' when attempting to make a call. Although the registration process fell by the wayside many years ago my AIS phone will not connect unless I display my number for out going calls.

Now, to the original question: I would take an educated guess that with many modern cell phones that with some coding using Symbian or similar you could get your phone to display anything you like as 'your' number, however....

If your motives are less than pure, be aware that each phone has a serial number, the IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity) number and that could also be used to trace where the call with a spoofed number was made from. If you key in the sequence * # 0 6 # your phone will display it's IMEI number.

I guess you might be able to spoof that as well, but if you need that level of security to hide your identity you really need better funding to employ IT professional level people to carry out these shady operations for you.

Good post, Cuban

My bad, I must remember which country I'm in.

[gregb]

The fact is Caller ID (or its trade name Automatic Number Identification or ANI, also referred to as A number) is a function of the terminating switch as much as it is the caller. There are NO Thai terminators that guarantee A number. Spoofcard is lying to you.

The best a site like spoofcard can say is that they pass the A number the way you tell them to. It is then up to the terminator (of which there are several in Thailand AIN/TT&T/CAT/TOT/Sawasdeeshop) to decide what they pass on to the local network. On any call you make your call could be routed over any one of these terminators depending on a variety of factors. Spoofcard may be handing off to someone in the US who charges premium prices that passes A number, but they have no control over what happens to the A number once the call leaves their switch.

In the case you describe, it is likely the A number was passed by spoofcard, but the terminator here translated that on the outbound side to match Thai regulations which require a local number for billing purposes (this is technical but it has to do with new interconnect laws regarding fees), and then set the P flag so it displays as "Private Number".

To answer your question, unless you know an engineer who works at the specific telecom carrier of the person you are trying to contact, and can bribe that person to reprogram a switch for you, there is no way to reliably spoof your Caller ID in Thailand. There is not even a way to reliably guarantee your caller ID will show up on an international call, although sometimes it will if it comes through CAT's switch in a particular way.

The regulations are different in the states and other countries. Don't expect any of those caller ID services to work here.