Using fake phone numbers is a common tactic used by less reputable businesses and criminals to attain personal information from the called individual. This is known as telephone spoofing, or commonly called a vishing attack. Unscrupulous individuals will select a phone number, sometimes with the same area code or prefix as the person they are calling, and then set their caller ID to show that number. The called person will see the number on their phone and might think it is from a reputable company.
These spoofed calls could be coming from anywhere even though they show up as a Mines telephone number to the called individual. The calls do not involve Mines personnel, nor do they come from the Mines telephone system. We have asked law enforcement and our phone company if they can identify the individuals uses our number. While it may be technically possible to track down a vishing attack, it would involve an extremely large effort and many hours to gain any information that may allow us to peruse legal actions to get the perpetrators to stop these attacks.
When we have run into this in the past the calls have stopped after a few days or weeks. The call intensity seems to increase around the Holidays. If someone calls you back and says they received a call from your number, you can explain to them that the call did not come from Mines and that someone is spoofing our telephone numbers. Also, Mines will never call and solicit personal information.
These calls unfortunately have the ability to damage the Mines reputation so informing the public helps preserve our reputation and calm the person who has been spoofed by one of our telephone numbers. If you have any questions or to report an instance of vishing, please open a ticket.