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Someone Has Stolen My Phone Number

josephruberto
Good Citizen / Bon Citoyen

I've been having issues for months with my phone number. I first noticed the issue when people were messaging my android phone and it was being sent to someone on iMessage (which I don't have) and, on a couple of occasions, another person actually responded to some of these messages. I contacted Public Mobile about the issue then and all they told me to do was to de-register my number from iMessage, which I had to do multiple times because it kept being re-registered. Now, I randomly get messages with confirmations codes from Tinder (that aren't me) and I get added to random Whatsapp group chats. Also, my girlfriend tried to call me recently and she got texts from someone asking why she was trying to call them. These messages even showed up in our phone chat as being sent from my phone even though I didn't send them...after reading an article talking about the dangers of people's phone numbers being ported and taken by someone else I decided I had to look for help with this issue again before anything bad happens. Please get back to me as soon as possible!

12 REPLIES 12

josephruberto
Good Citizen / Bon Citoyen

I only had one collector reach out to me really early on and I basically told them the same thing haha, but it's weird how similar our situations seem to be

hTideGnow
Mayor / Maire

HI @josephruberto   

 

It doesn't sound like your number really got stolen or so.  If this happens, people usually would try to use that to get access to your email and bank accounts for other financial gain  

 

Next time, when you got the call, you should ask who they are calling and tell them they got the wrong person. Hopefully this helps to die down . 

Anonymous
Not applicable

The immediacy feel died down in maybe a month or two. But I did get the odd collector for a good while looking for that guy.

I just had no clue. Like, what? this is my number. Lol

josephruberto
Good Citizen / Bon Citoyen

Yeah, that sounds a lot like what I am experiencing and some of the things people reach out to me about do seem kinda sketchy...Hopefully nothing more comes of it, but at the very least I'm glad I'm not the only one. Also, how long did it take to die down? I just double checked and this has been happening for over a year with me.

Anonymous
Not applicable

No help to offer but my experience. When I first signed up I picked up a number from here. I suddenly started getting calls for some people looking for the same guy. It seemed in the immediate sense. Like maybe a boss looking for him to work or something. I also got several calls from people looking for something in what seemed to me a bit cryptic. I suspect maybe he was supplying product. I also got the odd text.

Clueless me, I just carried on saying they must have the wrong number.

Eventually it all died down. I have no clue if anyone was getting anything outbound.

 

So peculiarities can happen.

josephruberto
Good Citizen / Bon Citoyen

Thanks for the links! I had already reached out to an agent but I appreciate the help!

josephruberto
Good Citizen / Bon Citoyen

I never had an iPhone, so that couldn't be it.

josephruberto
Good Citizen / Bon Citoyen

My incoming calls are coming to me no problem, so far the issue has just been with texts. I've had this number for over 10 years. I first had it with Wind (now Freedom) and I transferred over to PM with it. Also, the fact that people are sending me messages and they are going to another person makes me think that it's more than just people making mistakes or adding my number to chats accidentally because that never used to happen beforehand. 

CountyDownIeUk
Mayor / Maire

@josephruberto wrote:

I've been having issues for months with my phone number. I first noticed the issue when people were messaging my android phone and it was being sent to someone on iMessage (which I don't have) and, on a couple of occasions, another person actually responded to some of these messages. I contacted Public Mobile about the issue then and all they told me to do was to de-register my number from iMessage, which I had to do multiple times because it kept being re-registered. Now, I randomly get messages with confirmations codes from Tinder (that aren't me) and I get added to random Whatsapp group chats. Also, my girlfriend tried to call me recently and she got texts from someone asking why she was trying to call them. These messages even showed up in our phone chat as being sent from my phone even though I didn't send them...after reading an article talking about the dangers of people's phone numbers being ported and taken by someone else I decided I had to look for help with this issue again before anything bad happens. Please get back to me as soon as possible!


@josephruberto 

 

Did you ever have an iPhone?

If yes, did you set up your phone number and an email address(es) to iMessage

If you did and sold it or gave it away, did you fully erase it?

 

 

esjliv
Mayor / Maire

@josephruberto  - 

These could be accidental uses of your number. But, there could be someone out there that needs to deregister their phone with with your same number?

Hopefully that 'ghost' number gets off someone else's accounts/phone soon....Months already of this is annoying.

 

You can change your phone number 4 times every 30 days through your self serve account if you wish through the Change Number option.

 

softech
Oracle
Oracle

@josephruberto   So, your incoming calls are going to your number without issue?

 

Ok, getting confirmation codes from Tinder might not mans they stolen your number.  They might have registered a wrong number with Tinder, when the person who registered the wrong number try to get the code, Tider sent to your number (because wrong number entered

 

Similarly ,  some people added you to some Whatsapp chat does not mean they  got your phone either. You can add any random working number to your contacts and then add them to your Whatsapp chat

 

Did you get your number from PM not long ago?  It could be just a recycled number and it tied to some registration and some people still has that contact for the previous owner.  If you really got your number not long ago, I suggest you to change your phone number to get a fresh start

 

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