In the future, your iPhone might be able to detect if a caller is using a spoofed number.
Apple has filed a patent for “Detection of spoofed call information” that would allow an iPhone to check a call and determine if it is genuine. If it determined the call was not, it would warn the recipient it might be spam.
The practice of spoofing numbers is most often done by spammers who fake a local number to the person they’re calling in an attempt to get that person to answer the phone for the call. The practice also allows spammers to bypass blocking systems. If the new spoofed number isn’t on a blocked list, then it can get through. And, of course, if the number is fake to begin with, it’s hard to report a spammer or even call back and complain.
Apple’s patent was published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on Thursday.
Worth noting, Apple files a tremendous number of patents, many of which never make their way to fruition. Given the growing number of spam calls out there, and Apple’s participating in the FCC’s ant-spam “Robocall Strike Force,” this is one that seems probable to make it into a future release.