A LLANGRANNOG woman is warning people to beware of telephone ‘spoofing’.

It is a practice where scammers alter the caller ID so that the call appears to be coming from a local or well-known phone number, making it more likely to be trusted or answered.

Elizabeth Davey – whose landline is currently ringing ‘20-25 times a day’ – said a fraudster based outside the UK was using her number to ring people all over the country.

“They let the phone ring two times, leaving no message, so people on the other end dial 1471 and ring me back,” she told the Tivy-Side.

“I reported this to BT’s scam/fraud department last Wednesday when I realised I had a problem with the landline.

“Since then my phone is ringing 20-25 times a day.

“I do not answer the calls, but obviously I do not remember all my friends' telephone numbers and the one or two times I have answered it has been an elderly person and I have explained what has happened.

“This is obviously very upsetting – both for those receiving these calls and for myself.

“I want to let other people know about ‘spoofing’.

“You may have already heard of spoofing, but it was completely new to me and I am not certain how many people are aware.”