From the commonly known aspect of numbers, the latest turning point in video Dating is: NPR

Here's something that might sound annoyingly familiar

Ailsa Chang, watch an unrestrained hour of video Dating - the next spoofingThese are automated calls from phone numbers that seem strangely similar to the recipient's own phone numbers. The phone rings and the number flashing on the screen has the same code and area code as yours.

So he got up and took you - he's a telemarketer

This happened to Ailsa Chang from NPR's Money planet podcast non-stop, so she went to find out why. AILSA CHANG, AUTHOR of Planet Money asked the audience if they had received calls from phone numbers that were being used by the company. they looked strangely similar to their phone numbers. And less than an hour later, our Twitter account exploded. I'll make sure it's my code and the same first three digits. Oh, my God, Yes.

And I only have about ten minutes before they call you, to be precise.

Hello, this is Elizabeth, Resorts, blah blah blah, Yes (laughs). ALEX NOSTRO: On Tuesday morning, I had four different phone calls that lasted eight minutes. I mean, they all start with my code and my first three digits. I picked up the phone and looked at the caller's number. And I think I had a confused expression on my face because my husband said:"Who's calling? And I said that apparently I was there because the number in the reading is our phone number. CHANG: Chris Galileo, Omar Williams, Alex and Notre Elion Johnson are all victims of what is called near-spoofing.

This is when callers mask their real phone numbers with a fake phone number that has the same area code and the territorial code, just like yours.

The idea is that you might be more inclined to do this because you might think that this call might be my neighbor or friend, the school of someone I know. You seem to come from a zone code that is located here in Washington, and then our zone code for that More'. And I know for a fact that it's probably not a call from the office. I know, you know, most people will be called, and sometimes I just answer for fun. And here I am, winning a vacation from MARRIOTT. CHANG: the Calls are so annoying to Paul that He doubles down on it, making fighting spoilers a top FCC priority. Video games, telemarketing, and no. complaints that the Agency receives from the public. The new technology has made spoofing easier and more difficult to access. Last year, people were getting about billions of video dates every month. This has become very profitable for scammers. PAI: These call centers, which were opened in India only last year and which are used daily it was used by American consumers who, naturally, were scared after a call that they allegedly received from the tax service, especially if they were elderly or recently immigrated people, etc, spent money, although not out of a sense of duty. CHANG: so, this spring, the FCC started looking at ways to get cell phone providers to block calls in a spooler. SHARES: For various reasons, one of them was that under FCC rules, airlines were forced to go through all the calls they received. But that has changed. Now phone operators are allowed to block certain spoofs. The final solution, says Paolo, is a new system that can really authenticate subscribers. PAI: If desired, there is a unique identifier associated with the phone number. Thus, when a call is made using a mobile phone number, the recipient of the call can be fully confident that it is a fingerprint on the given device number. I believe that this is not an impostor or someone who represents the owner of this number. CHANGE: At the same time, the FCC uses less than fanciful methods against spoilers. A record $ million fine was recently imposed on a man who is said to have tampered with millions of videos last year. Ailsa Chang, NPR news.