Caller ID
The calling party's phone number, and sometimes a name, delivered to the receiving line before or as a call connects — a claim from the calling network, not a verified fact.
The Truth in Caller ID Act of 2009, with FCC rules effective 2011, makes it illegal to display false caller ID with intent to defraud, cause harm, or wrongfully obtain something of value — penalties up to $10,000 per violation. The law doesn't ban every case where a displayed number differs from the exact originating line; a business displaying a consistent callback number is a recognized, legitimate practice.
A caller with a withheld number places a large catering order. Nothing about the missing caller ID changes how it's handled — if anything about that order needs review, it's because the order itself crossed a size threshold the restaurant set in advance.
The most consequential mistake is treating an unfamiliar or blocked number as inherent evidence of something wrong. People withhold numbers for entirely mundane reasons — habit, a workplace phone system's default — that have nothing to do with the call that follows.
Caller ID is captured when available and used as context, never treated as evidence of fraud on its own — the same discipline covered on Calls.
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