Hello, is this you? Yes it's me. Oh, sorry, I was looking for a different you. With your same number. And first name.
March 20, 2010 8:09 AM   Subscribe

Is someone spoofing my cell phone number (and first name)? If so, why? And does this have any impact on my cell phone contract?

Several times now I have received phone calls where the person says, "Hello [My actual first name]," and I say hello back, and then the person pauses and says, "Oh, I'm sorry, I think I have the wrong number--I'm calling for [My actual first name] [Different last name]." Once this happened where the caller greeted me with both [My actual first name] and [My slightly unusual but not altogether unheard of nickname].

Today when this happened, the person who called told me that she had just pressed redial on her phone to call back the person she was trying to reach -- that my number was the number this other person with my first name had called from. We were both fairly confused by this.

So, my questions are: Is this just some kind of weird glitch in the matrix? Is there some kind of scammy angle to this where some phone spammer has access to my name and phone number to make their call seem legit? (Okay, that's not even sounding plausible to me as I type it, but who knows?) Does this in any way affect my cell phone plan or minutes or anything?

(Anon because I don't want it associated with my username, which is associated with my real name.)
posted by anonymous to Technology (6 answers total)
 
Maybe you should call your cell provider and ask this?
posted by gudrun at 8:19 AM on March 20, 2010


I can't think of any payoff for a scammer doing this. It is possible that someone has a crush on you but something like a professional relationship (e.g., student/teacher) prevents them from conversing with you directly. In this case they might simply want to get off on hearing your voice.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 9:07 AM on March 20, 2010


Do you have a common first name? If so, that would be your answer. Not suretheres much of a conspiracy to be had here, absent any information about what your first name is.
posted by dfriedman at 9:42 AM on March 20, 2010


Is this the same person calling you, or different people?
posted by Solon and Thanks at 9:51 AM on March 20, 2010


Is it possible your phone is in a purse/pocket, getting buttons pushed, and dialing randomly?
posted by chairface at 9:57 AM on March 20, 2010


I've experienced something a little similar -- without the same first name issue -- when a new area code opened up, but it wasn't properly programmed at all carriers, and so when someone dialed AAA-BBB-CCCC on their phone it went through to the local number AAA-BBBC. Or perhaps a local exchange went to or from 1+ dialing?
posted by dhartung at 10:40 AM on March 20, 2010


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