The Martha's Vineyard Times
The Oak Bluffs Police Department was subjected to a spoofing attack on its telephone system in late February. Callers were able to camouflage their real numbers with that of the Oak Bluffs Police Department, and subsequently call people in Florida and Georgia about fake emergencies, Oak Bluffs Police Sgt. Daniel Cassidy told The Times.
The attack occurred on Feb. 24 at about 8 am, and “probably without exaggeration, 40 calls per hour” hit the station, Cassidy said. Cassidy said the act appeared bent on chaos. He said this type of telephone number hijack attack is called spoofing. After reaching out to the telephone company, Cassidy said the attack was neutralized by 10 am. The identity of those behind the attack remains unknown, he said, and he characterized the difficulty of finding who did it as on par with that of phishing and other attacks common in the digital age.