If you want more anecdotal proof that CLI spoofing is increasingly common, consider this warning issued by China’s Embassy in London:
Recently, the Chinese Embassy in the UK received phone calls reporting telephone fraud, in which scammers displayed their phone numbers as the Chinese Embassy in the UK (beginning with 44-20-7299) and fabricated kidnappings or accidents, notification of letters or parcels, notification of expiration of passports or other documents.
This Embassy has repeatedly issued warnings against such telecom fraud in the name of Chinese Embassy or Consulate-General, and has reported such fraudulent calls to the British police.
China seems to have a particularly severe problem with scammers using the telephone to defraud victims. Their police announced a crackdown in 2016 and they have since extradited fraudsters from a string of different countries.
The US recently decided it will tackle CLI spoofing by implementing SHAKEN/STIR digital signatures for phone numbers. Perhaps other countries should follow their lead.
