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Ghost Calls: Has This Ever Happened to Anyone?
self | jimjohn

Posted on 11/23/2024 6:55:55 PM PST by jimjohn

So I get a call from my son at about 7:30 am. He’s freaking out wondering of something happened here since (according to him) I made 2 calls at approximately 1:28 am.

He assumed something must have been wrong for me to be calling so late, but we chalked it up to an infamous ‘butt dial’.

But wait: I was pretty sure I was in bed before then, and made that pretty clear. I then after checking my phone history I said, “can you check the number that actually called you, since I have no record of it on my phone?”.

He then immediately sent me a screenshot of his early morning incoming calls – with my number listed twice. Again, there is no record of a call being made to him or anyone at that time in the morning from my phone. Has this ever happened to anyone else?


TOPICS: Computers/Internet; Conspiracy; Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS: caller; freepersq; id; phone; qanon; spoofing; tracking; vanity
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To: jimjohn

Yes, software can spoof your number..........


21 posted on 11/23/2024 7:33:20 PM PST by Red Badger (Homeless veterans camp in the streets while illegals are put up in 5 Star hotels....................)
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To: jimjohn

You have a good son.


22 posted on 11/23/2024 7:36:19 PM PST by algore
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To: jimjohn

It has happened that someone called and the incoming number was OUR phone number. Somehow, jerks can spoof any number which they desire. I have also gotten calls from numbers which were, “Out of Service.”


23 posted on 11/23/2024 7:44:47 PM PST by spel_grammer_an_punct_polise (Learn three chords and you, too, can be a Rock Star!)
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To: tired&retired

You probably spoke to the scammer who pretended to be the bank and told you that.


24 posted on 11/23/2024 8:11:27 PM PST by piasa (Attitude adjustments offered here free of charge)
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To: jimjohn

You can’t trust caller ID anymore. Phone numbers can be spoofed and it’s not too difficult to find phone numbers of members of the same family.


25 posted on 11/23/2024 8:13:35 PM PST by smokingfrog ( sleep with one eye open (<o> --- )
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To: BipolarBob

I’ve been called by my own number also.


26 posted on 11/23/2024 8:13:38 PM PST by Old Grumpy
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To: jimjohn

I have gotten such phone calls from myself!


27 posted on 11/23/2024 8:14:36 PM PST by Cold Heart
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To: jimjohn

Yes. I actually got a call from my own number trying to sell me an extended warranty a few years ago.


28 posted on 11/23/2024 8:15:53 PM PST by del griffith
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To: jimjohn

Yes. Wife’s always calling me at work asking if I called her.

I didn’t. Weird.


29 posted on 11/23/2024 8:17:45 PM PST by jmacusa (Liberals. Too stupid to be idiots.)
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To: Magnum44

Bkmk


30 posted on 11/23/2024 8:18:42 PM PST by sauropod ("This is a time when people reveal themselves for who they are." James O'Keefe Ne supra crepidam)
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To: jimjohn

Scammers will spoof your number and pretend to be you.

Let your family know that if they ever get an odd call from you, hang up and dial your number directly. If it is you and you do need help, you can continue the call from there.

Never respond to calls from people claiming to be your bank, credit card company, IRS, etc.

Most of the time if I say hello and they ask me to confirm my name, I hang up and block the number.


31 posted on 11/23/2024 8:19:19 PM PST by TheWriterTX (🇺🇸✝️🙏🇮🇱)
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To: jmacusa

At work, when somebodys wife called to ask for somebody there, someone would always ask in the background “Is it his wife or his girlfriend”. That’s always good for laughs.


32 posted on 11/23/2024 8:24:01 PM PST by BipolarBob (Our prodigal Haitian son has returned!! Prepare the fatted cat.)
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To: jimjohn

Spoofed call, IMO.


33 posted on 11/23/2024 8:24:06 PM PST by RushIsMyTeddyBear (Nessun Dorma.)
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To: TheWriterTX

“Most of the time if I say hello and they ask me to confirm my name,”

If I get a call from (allegedly) my number, or a number I don’t recognize, I don’t answer with hello. I say “Can I help you?”. And about 90% of the time there’s a hangup. Actual people lile doctors, etc., will continue the conversation.

It seems they might be programmed to respond to “hello”.


34 posted on 11/23/2024 8:34:57 PM PST by MayflowerMadam (🎶 They're eating the dogs. They're eating the cats. 🎶)
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To: tired&retired
I did that and a local bank answered. They did not call me. Someone electronically hijacked their line.

The scammers aren’t actually taking control of someone’s line in any way, they’re just able to fake the caller ID info to make it look like they’re calling from that number.

I once ran into this after I had ordered something from the Apple Store. After a week or so, my local Apple Store was trying to call me to let me know that my item was in. Unfortunately, I have the Robokiller app installed on my phone, which compares incoming calls against a database of scammer numbers and if a scammer is detected, it plays a random outgoing message that is designed to sound like a live answer. The recordings have strategically-placed pauses to make the scammer think they’re talking to a live person, and they’re recorded by voice actors and are hilarious. The recordings are intended to mess with the scammer and waste their time. It works great, but in this case it caused a little fratricide. It turns out the poor Apple Store employee ran into one of these recordings while calling me because, unbeknownst to anyone, a scammer had already spoofed the Apple Store’s number, which resulted in it landing in the Robokiller database of scammer numbers.

When this happens, Robokiller records the call. I listened to it, and felt awful because this poor girl got a recording where the guy answering keeps asking the caller to speak a little louder because he can’t hear them. After a couple of minutes of this, this girl was yelling into the phone, still as professionally as possible, only to have the recording reach a point where it says, “I’m sorry, I still can’t quite hear you, is there someone else there I could speak to?” Being ever polite and dutiful, she went and got her manager and put him on the line, only for him to be subjected to the same routine. He was just as nice and professional, and rode it out as long as he could.

When I realized what happened, I called the Apple Store and got hold of the two employees who got caught up in this, and apologized profusely. I explained what happened and we all had a big laugh over it. They were very nice people.

And that is how I discovered that scammers can spoof even the numbers of legitimate businesses.

35 posted on 11/23/2024 8:42:53 PM PST by noiseman (The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.)
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To: jimjohn

Yes. Spam junk calls spoof anything.


36 posted on 11/23/2024 9:02:43 PM PST by Organic Panic (Democrats. Memories as short as Joe Biden's eyes)
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To: BipolarBob

LOL! “Doctor, it’s your wife on line 1’’.

Doctor; “My wife?! How did she get this number?’’


37 posted on 11/23/2024 9:19:09 PM PST by jmacusa (Liberals. Too stupid to be idiots.)
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To: SaveFerris

38 posted on 11/23/2024 9:36:22 PM PST by gundog (It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen. )
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To: CatOwner
What I have gotten are voicemails from a phone number that didn’t ring my phone nor showed up in my phone log.

This happens when the call is on block. apparently I can block a number but they can still leave voice mails. Irritating.
39 posted on 11/23/2024 10:20:50 PM PST by Chani (FRiendly Drive By poster)
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To: noiseman

My favorite Robokiĺler response is the Area 51 script. That one really seems to get them on the hook.


40 posted on 11/23/2024 10:57:34 PM PST by Noumenon (You're not voting your way out of this. KTF)
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