Why do so many spam calls come from Norwood Young America?

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Your phone rings. It’s a number you don’t recognize, but it’s a Minnesota area code. The caller ID location reads Norwood Young America.

If you’ve answered these calls only to hear a recording or robotic voice on the other end, you’re not alone. Robin Ray of Hopkins has been pestered by calls purportedly from Norwood Young America for five years despite never answering them.

She has no connections to Norwood Young America, a city of about 3,800 residents 40 miles west of Minneapolis.

The frequency of these spam calls inspired Ray to turn to the Minnesota Star Tribune’s reader-powered reporting project, Curious Minnesota, to ask: Why do I get so many spam calls from Norwood Young America?

Reddit users have also expressed frustration over persistent spam calls listed as coming from Norwood Young America. One user reported a “constant stream of spam calls” that show up as coming from the city despite blocking each new number that rings.

It turns out that the pesky calls may not even be actually coming from the uniquely named (more on that below) Minnesota city, despite what the caller ID says.

Connor Smith, the city’s mayor, said he wasn’t aware of the complaints — and explained that there aren’t any telemarketing companies or call centers in the area that could explain the frequency of calls.

Likewise, in Carver County, where Norwood Young America is located, the Sheriff’s Officeisn’t aware of a pattern of spam calls listed as coming from the city, said Lt. Dustin Bones.

Instead, these calls could be the result of caller ID spoofing, said Kerri Shafer-Page, vice president of digital forensics and incident response at Eden Prairie-based cyber defense company Arctic Wolf.

Spoofing involves a caller deliberately falsifying the phone number or location that appears on your phone’s caller ID display. Scammers can and have disguised calls to appear as if they are coming from a local area code, government agency or company, especially banks, that people may already trust.

Telemarketers can also disguise their number to appear as a local one. Some Reddit users who have answered calls allegedly from Norwood Young America picked up to hear the familiar “extended car warranty” scam used to retrieve your personal information.

The city’s unusual name comes from the 1997 merger of two neighboring communities. There was Norwood to the south. And then there was Young America.

Young America’s name dates back to 1863 (local leaders first called it Farmington and then Florence before settling on Young America).

They picked the name Young America “with an expression of the vigor and progressiveness of the young people of the United States,” according to the “Pocket Guide to Minnesota Place Names” by Michael Fedo.

In 1972, it became home to a marketing firm that called itself Young America after the city. The company maintained a promotion-fulfillment and coupon-rebate operation before transitioning into a digital-promotion firm.

The firm left its namesake city in 2015 and moved to Minneapolis before rebranding as YA Engage. The company has since ceased operations.

“They’re usually just doing it with raw, brute force numbers to achieve their scams,” Bones said. “They aren’t putting a whole lot of thoughts into it because if they get burned they have to make it all up again.”

That doesn’t mean people shouldn’t be wary of spam calls. The Federal Communications Commission recommends not answering calls from unknown numbers. It’s especially important to avoid giving out personal and financial information to unknown callers.

If someone claims to be from a government agency or company and is requesting information from you, it’s best to hang up. Find a more trustworthy number on your account statement or the company’s or government agency’s website.

If you’d like to submit a Curious Minnesota question, fill out the form below:

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