About Spoofwatch
Spoofwatch started as a text file. Marcus Vell, who writes and edits everything here, had been collecting screenshots of calls that lied about who was calling: a missed call from his own number, a local-looking number that rang nobody when he tried it later, a checkmark on a call that was plainly a scam. Readers began sending theirs. After a while the file made a pattern, and the pattern had questions in it that nobody seemed to be answering from the receiving end of the call.
How the pages arrived
The first article went up on September 14, 2026, and the rest followed over about three weeks. The dates below are the dates each one was published.
- Calls from your own number, the question readers asked first.
- Neighbor spoofing, the version that borrows your first six digits.
- The verified checkmark and the call log glossary.
- Silent calls, then why a verified call can still be a scam.
- Why blocking fails, written after one too many afternoons of tapping the block button.
- Someone using your number, government-looking numbers and a voicemail greeting.
The pages take different shapes on purpose. A decision flow suits one problem, a glossary another and a cheat sheet a third. We would rather fit the form to the question than pour every answer into the same mold.
Where the lines are
Spoofwatch is an independent information site. It is not connected to any phone carrier, call-blocking company or government agency. When we mention the FTC, the FCC or a carrier, it is as a source or an example, never as a partner. We are defensive only: we do not explain how to spoof a number, and we will not link to services that sell it.
The number check reads an area code and the format of a number and describes the region the code is assigned to. It does not identify owners, carriers or line types, and it does not hold reputation data. If a number looks suspicious, the practical answer is to check the claimed organization through its official website, not to trust a stranger's database.
How a page gets checked, and fixed
We start with primary sources: the FTC and ReportFraud, the FCC consumer pages, Apple and Google support pages, and the Do Not Call Registry. Menu paths are tested on a real phone where we can, and when something depends on the carrier, we say that it depends. We do not quote statistics we cannot trace, and we do not publish reader stories as if they were verified. The date at the top of a page is the date its content last changed in substance, not the date someone fixed a comma.
If we got something wrong, or a phone menu has moved, use the contact page or write to [email protected]. We fix the text and update the date. We cannot investigate individual numbers or recover money, but the article on number misuse says who can help. Privacy details are in the privacy notice, and the limits of what we say are in the disclaimer. The home page has the reading order.