Skiptracers, Private Investigators, & the Power of the Spoof
Skiptracers, repo men, and private detectives live by the motto, “You can run, but you can’t hide.” Thanks to call spoofing, much of their work finding fugitives and debtors can be achieved without ever leaving their desks. Most people on the run need the support of friends and family to survive, and skiptracers use this to their advantage every day. While it is easy to ignore a call from an unknown caller ID, even hardened criminals pick up the phone when it’s their mother calling.
In an article titled, “The Secret Life of Private Investigators,” The New York Times describes caller ID spoofing as “making it seem as if a phone call is coming from a friend’s phone, say, rather than a detective agency, thus making it more likely that the person they are trying to hunt down will answer the call.”
In the movies, private investigators stake out Mom’s house waiting for their fugitive to sneak over the back fence to borrow money. In the real world, skiptracers use creativity and technology to make their marks come to them. By spoofing Mom’s number, a sharp investigator can trick a fugitive into running home to check in on an ailing family member. For skiptracers, who are often working multiple cases at once, this kind of efficiency is critical.
The private investigation business is about playing to emotions and getting results quickly. Clients don’t have unlimited budgets, so getting positive outcomes quickly matters. While private eyes are often able to leverage SpoofCard’s core functionality alone to locate their targets, sometimes pairing the power of caller ID spoofing with other product features proves valuable. Several private investigators have told us that they have used our background noise feature along with voice changer to outsmart their marks.
One of our favorite stories is from a repossession specialist who was trying to repossess a motorhome for his client. The repo-man, spoofed the truck wash’s caller ID and called the debtor to tell him that he had won free detailing for his vehicle from a random draw of customers. Using SpoofCard’s background noise, he inserted traffic sounds into the call, completing the ruse. All the debtor had to do was set up an appointment and drop off the vehicle after hours so the truck wash could get an early start on the detail job. The debtor never saw the RV again. The repo man picked up the vehicle and drove it back to his client’s lot without ever seeing the debtor.
This is just one of the many success stories skiptracers, repossession experts, bounty hunters, and private investigators have shared with SpoofCard over the years. Call spoofing can be incredibly effective in playing to the emotions of criminals, debtors, and other people trying to hide in the shadows.









