What do you do when you receive annoying calls from a number similar to yours?

There are many types of scams and scams. In general, phishing via phone calls is a type that is widespread and rooted in all countries of the world. And with time, the people who do this business started using a very strange method. It is calling you from a number that is exactly the same as yours, with a slight difference in one or two numbers, as a kind of annoying call.

When someone calls you from a number similar to yours. He performs a scam known as Neighbor Spoofing. This method is simply designed to trick users into answering the call.

Also read: How to know the reason for calling before answering the call

This is because receiving a call from a number similar to yours raises many questions on the one hand, and gives some confidence in the number on the other hand.

In many cases, this method is used for impersonation in general. For example, claiming on the part of the speaker that he is a person or a company and that he is able to use a number similar to your personal number. The numbers are usually very similar except for a slight change in one or two numbers. Where, as in the following image, the numbers covered in red are exactly the same, and the difference is in the last numbers:

Receiving annoying calls from a number similar to yours

This step is only used, in most cases, to drag you into the stage of answering the call. As the person impersonates your number in this way only to push you to answer the call. As soon as you answer the call, the conversation will begin with him, and here the fraud itself is attempted. Which usually revolves around your bank account, a request for information, or a transfer.

The main and primary goal here is to answer the call, because the user usually ignores annoying calls permanently.

There is no unified and clear goal for calls of this type, but the caller usually pretends to be authorized by someone. Or make you believe that they are someone who specializes in a field, such as COVID-19 vaccines or something related to your social life. As we know, in the event that the caller has a degree of professionalism in persuasion, and the recipient has a degree of naivety, the fraud is carried out with ease, regardless of its cause or main objective.

Also read: How to block calls from unknown callers on Android and iPhone

Avoid this type of calls

This deception technique relies on many methods, but of course, the hacker does not - so to speak - buy a phone number similar to the phone number of everyone he wants to target! Rather, techniques are used that display the phone number in this way to the recipient, which is a common occurrence. Perhaps the most important question here is: What do you do if you receive a call from a number similar to yours?

The answer is very simple, and you don't need any steps in reality, all you have to do is not answer the call in the first place. This is for two reasons, the first reason is that you will waste your time and effort unnecessarily. The second reason is that as soon as you answer the call, the software that performs this task will understand that your number deserves to be targeted, and that you really cared and answered the phone when you received a call from a number similar to yours!

On the other hand, you can adapt technology and use it to your advantage. And that is by using specialized applications to retrieve information about the numbers that call you and also alert you in the event of any dangers, only during the ringing of the phone and before you need to answer the call, and the most important of these applications are:

As we mentioned above, the targeting process of this type depends on software and techniques for falsifying the number. That is, these numbers are not real numbers associated with physical SIM cards. Therefore, in the event that you receive a lot of calls from numbers similar to yours, it would be a great step to contact your telecom provider to tell them about it. This is because companies may be able to trace the source of the calls themselves, i.e. the original number that changes with the target.

This technology is not the only phishing technology associated with your smartphone number. Expect to always receive fake promotional messages or messages from people impersonating shops, banks or companies. The best solution is to completely ignore and block the sender's number.