“Spoofing” is a funny-sounding word but there is nothing funny about the practice of spoofing. Also called “neighbor spoofing” and “caller ID spoofing,” it’s a common scam to fool people into thinking a phone call is coming from a local business, government agency, or neighbor by deliberately falsifying their phone number.
Unfortunately, we recently learned our office number was being used to spoof local residents.
The nature of the scammer’s intent is not exactly clear, but as long as they continue to use our phone number for nefarious purposes, we are advising people who receive a call from us not to provide any personal information and to:
1. Ask the caller for their department and name.
2. Hang up.
3. Call Blue Ridge Orthopaedics back at (540) 347-9220 and ask to speak with the person in the department.
If you want to learn more about spoofing, here are a few online resources:
Caller ID Spoofing (FCC)
Spoofing and Phishing (FBI)
