SpoofCard: Good for Privacy, Bad for Hacking

Is SpoofCard as harmless as it seems?

Hacking into others' phones? Yep, unfortunately, there's an app for that. Image from Flickr.

SpoofCard is, put simply, a service that allows you to change the phone number that shows up on someone else’s phone when you call. It sells its services under the slogan “Be who you want to be,” and advertises itself as a tool to protect your privacy. It costs about 20 cents per use.

Seems pretty harmless so far, eh? Well SpoofCard also advertises that you can use it to prank call your friends. That’s a little questionable, but still OK if it’s all in good fun. Because no one would ever use a service for something it wasn’t intended for, right? Say, harassment or hacking into someone’s voicemail.

Yes, hacking

Sure enough, some people have figured out how to use SpoofCard to hack into people’s voicemails. Malicious people can use SpoofCard to hack into the voicemails of anyone whose number they know. That means people can listen to others’ messages, change their outgoing greeting, you name it.

In fact, if you were to take it even further, you could use services such as pizza delivery and money lenders who use phone numbers as people’s account numbers. Doesn’t sound so harmless now, does it?

SpoofCard malice and mayhem

Instances of maliciously using SpoofCard have started to pop up in the press. First it was reported that celebrities such as Lindsay Lohan and Paris Hilton had their phones hacked. Brickhouse Security reports that Dolce and Gabbana Publicity Director Ali Wise was fired from her job after she used SpoofCard to hack into people’s phones more than 700 times. Ahem, I said SEVEN HUNDRED TIMES.

And if that isn’t enough, guess what she was doing. She was hacking into the voicemails of her ex-boyfriends’ new girlfriends, listening to their voicemails and deleting them as she saw fit. Can we say psycho? Also, there have been instances of people using SpoofCard to disguise their numbers while making fraudulent 911 calls.

Yes, SpoofCard is still available. No, I am not going to tell you how to use it.