Seen At 11: Security Expert Says There's A Dark Side To 'Spoofing'
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- "Spoofing" has been growing rapidly in recent years as Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano became a victim of digital deceit.
Nassau County police ended their investigation into Mangano's sexting scandal after authorities said they could not find evidence that he exchanged sexually explicit messages with a local marketing executive.
CBS2's Dick Brennan reported Thursday night that scammers are easily downloading apps that let them send spoof texts, change people's caller ID, and even changing voices. If you oversleep, you can even make it sound as if you're stuck in traffic.
Spoofcard, which is made by Tel Tech Systems, is one of those apps. Ethan Garr, the company's vice president, told CBS2 the app is mainly used to protect callers' privacy.
"Tools like this allow you to really maintain your identity, the way you want to identify yourself," Garr said.
Daniel Adar, a medical clinic director, told CBS2 that he uses Spoofcard in a different way. He uses the app to collect unpaid bills from patients who ignores his calls.
Adar explained that he puts the patients' own office number in caller ID, but when they pick up, it's actually him and not their employer.
"Most of the time I get a good response from them; I mean, it works well," Adar told CBS2.
However, security expert Paul Viollis told CBS2 that there's a dark side to "spoofing," and said he doesn't "see anything positive with it whatsoever."
"What is the purpose and the purpose is very plain and simple – it's to intentionally to deceive others, end of story," Viollis told CBS2.
Garr admitted to CBS2 that Spoofcard has been used for malicious purposes, but those instances are rare.
"It provides a valuable service that helps people and it does far more good than it does harm," Garr said.
Mangano is convinced that he was a victim of "spoofing."
"Applications exist that do that and that's what occurred here," Mangano told CBS2.
There have been some arrests resulting from improper Spoofcard use.
Tel Tech said it always cooperates with law enforcement and has its own fraud unit to help cut down on any abuses.