Robocall using my cell number in scam.

December 21, 2010 10:38 AM

Some scammer is using my cell phone number as a call back #. People get robo-calls claiming to be from a "correctional facility", ask for credit card information and then give my number as a call back.

You are not my lawyer.
I've had 4 calls in the last 3 days. I called my cell phone provider to see what they could do, but they just took all my information, and are keeping a paper trail.

Who else can I call about this? I don't want to change my cell phone #, but I guess I could/should.

I've done a google search for my name and my phone numbers and haven't found anything related to this. (My number isn't on any Friends of Prisoners forums, for example.)

But someone's got the phone numbers of people with family/friends in prison/jail and these people don't need any more grief, I think. What can I do?

posted by Ideefixe to Law & Government (6 answers total)

If they give the name of the correctional facility then you should call them to see if it is legit.
I suspect it is a scammer just to get credit card numbers to use for nefarious reasons.

It gets more difficult all the time to protect our lives and information.
posted by JayRwv at 10:48 AM on December 21, 2010

I'd suggest you call the police.
posted by bearwife at 10:53 AM on December 21, 2010

Response by poster: No correctional name is given. I called the FTC's Help line, and they took my information, etc. It's similar to a spoofing scam, but the prison reference is a new twist.
posted by Ideefixe at 10:56 AM on December 21, 2010

Call the local police.
posted by Ironmouth at 11:16 AM on December 21, 2010

I'd suggest telling anyone who calls they've been scammed and should cancel their card immediately. Hopefully they'll move on to something else once they figure out the cards are going bad quickly.
posted by sdinan at 11:28 AM on December 21, 2010

Any caller ID info?
posted by thsmchnekllsfascists at 1:10 PM on December 21, 2010