Spoofing
Making a call, message or email appear to come from a number, name or domain that belongs to someone else.
The practical consequence is simple and worth internalising: the number that appears on your screen is not evidence of who is calling. Neither is the sender name on a text, which is why a scam message can drop into the same thread as genuine messages from your bank.
This is why every piece of advice on this site routes you back to a number you found yourself. Hang up, wait a minute or use a different phone, and call the number on your card. In the United Kingdom, dialling 159 connects you to your own bank without needing to look anything up.
Where it shows up
- Bank impersonation and the safe account — A call from your bank's real number, telling you your money is at risk and must be moved somewhere safe.
- Government impersonation — A call from someone you are trained to obey, about a problem only immediate payment can fix.
- Phishing and smishing — A small, cheap problem and a link that fixes it — on a screen where you cannot see where the link goes.