If you call from a disposable number to threaten the recipient, it is possibly illegal due to your intentions and the falsification of caller identity (trickery).

If you spoof your phone number to scam the recipient, it is questionably legal, but your intentions and actions are definitely illegal!.

It can be an act of falsifying information in an attempt to harass or abuse, etc.

If you hide your real number to prank a caller, it is often legal, but your actions may be considered illegal depending on location and circumstances.

If you get a second phone number for specific contacts, it is legal.

If you fake your phone number to investigate a potentially risky call, it is legal.

If you hide your real number to contact a business to protect your personal information, it’s legal.

It is your intentions that generally determine the legality of your actions. At its core, there’s nothing illegal about the act of spoofing caller ID with a false number in the United States. This way, you will receive return calls on a number that can be easily disposed of if anything were ever to go wrong with the intended caller. While it may be difficult to change your phone number on all services or registrations to a spoofed number, you can still protect your identity by making sure that your new number spreads to as many services as possible. In 2020, it’s more important than ever to practice safety when it comes to your personal identification. However, spoofing a number that the victim recognizes, has become a popular scenario for scam artists and pranksters alike. With more and more people starting to ignore calls from unfamiliar numbers and sending them to voicemail automatically, it has made pulling off a classic prank call trickier.

They use it to actually scam others by faking the number so the recipient thinks it is someone local, or a person or business they know.

They attempt to confirm or investigate a “potential” scam call.

They investigate a number they are curious about.

They call a debt collector with a spoofed number to avoid repeated calls in the future.

They want to reserve their actual phone number for their close family and friends while using a secondary number for “social media” friends and other parties.

They want a secondary number captured by recipients.

They protect their privacy and phone information from being captured and sold to third parties.

They perform a classic prank call to their neighbor or friend.

People spoof caller ID numbers for a wide variety of reasons.

Is there a way to tell if a spoofed number is calling?.

How Do I Actually Spoof a Call with a Fake Number?.

How Can I Call Someone with a Fake Number?.

Common Reasons to Call Someone using a Fake Number.

Use fake call app