Someone using my phone number as scam

[Lypsae]

Hello,

It seems that someone is using my phone number as scam. I've got people calling me stating that there were calls made from my phone number.

What should I do to procect my number?

Thanks for your advices

[Lypsae]

Thank for all your messages guys.

Appreciated really!

[Nezgar]

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@Lypsae wrote:

It is not about receiving calls here. The issue is that they use my number to contact other people and try to scam them

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Many business and VoIP based phone systems allow customizing the outgoing caller ID to anything they want, and unfortunately they used your caller ID for a batch of calls. It does not have any impact on your account.

Just kindly tell anyone that calls you that some spammer is using your number for caller ID, and it's not you. That's all you can do.

[will13am · Accepted solution]

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@Lypsae wrote:

It is not about receiving calls here.

The issue is that they use my number to contact other people and try to scam them

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@Lypsae , your number is not actually being "used".  Scammers block their actual number from view when calling someone.  They spoof a number so that to the recipient, the call is coming from the spoofed number.  They randomly select a "victim number" so to speak.  You are an unfortunate passenger in this situation.  There is really little you or anyone can do about it.  When the perpetrator is knowingly violating the rules, it is not like they can be asked to stop or that they care to listen.  

[darlicious]

@Lypsae 

Your number has been spoofed. You may notice the real people calling you back have the same 3 digit exchange as you.....you can ignore these calls but they may fill your voicemail. By enabling your conditional and unconditional call forwarding for these calls you will be able to manage them effectively. @Nezgar  can point you in the right direction on how to handle all kinds of nuisance calls.

[LurganIeUk]

Your number is being spoofed. It is very easy to do. They use a number and phone other similar numbers so they, the caller, appears to be a neighbour hoping you are likely to answer the call. They only use it for a short period of time. 

Like others say....if the number calling is yours or a number not in your contacts list.....DON'T ANSWER IT!!

The best thing you can do is have an excellent and complete contacts list of every friend, enemy and ex lover. And also use blocking and what ever options your phone allows based on numbers in your contact list. 

[Meow]

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@Lypsae wrote:

It is not about receiving calls here.

The issue is that they use my number to contact other people and try to scam them

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They do not actually 'use' your number. Your number appears on other peoples phone (call display) but it is actually spoofed. There is a software/hardware which can change phone number shown on other peoples' phones when call is placed.

Nothing you can do about, nor Public Mobile.

- You can ignore calls from unknown numbers.

---- BUT: They might leave angry voice mail so you will be wasting your outgoing minutes checking vmail

- If you answer, as somebody mentioned, you will acknowledge that your phone is 'live' and valid so you might start receiving calls from real spammers.

- What you can do is accept call and immediately terminate it. So the calling party will not know if connection has been made or not. I would NOT talk to people calling you and complaining 'you are calling them' as you might get into unpleasant argument and you do not need that.

- You can change your phone number (once a month) and cross fingers... until next call.

[totalUser]

@Lypsae 

They are using software to call and they can put almost any number as display, they just want it to look like believable real number so people answer, not too fancy so it looks like hvac system cleaning or similar which people ignore. 

It is only display and it cannot affect your service.

You can think of it as someone writing your contact info on their key tag, they still can't access your home with those keys and if anybody returns those keys (calls) to you there is nothing really you can do with it or about it except discard it.

They also change numbers they use couple of times per day so it will stop

[Spudster]

@Lypsae  I do understand what you're saying. What I'm suggesting is that the way you find out about this is that these people are calling you to tell you about it, right?

My point is that for all you know, it's the people calling you that may be trying to scam you indirectly.

I'd still never answer any calls from anyone you don't know or not in your contact list - but ultimately your choice.

[HALIMACS]

No,  @Lypsae 

It doesn't impact your outgoing calling allotment if you're on a limited plan with limited minutes. 

[Lypsae]

It is not about receiving calls here.

The issue is that they use my number to contact other people and try to scam them

[Spudster]

@Lypsae 

I would recommend ignoring any calls you receive from any numbers you don't recognize or from anyone outside your contact list.

For all you know, these people are calling you trying to scam you and when you answer their call, they're now aware that your number is one which will be answered. It may result in continued calling.

[Lypsae]

Does it charge my phone call subscription tho?

[HALIMACS]

@Lypsae 

Phone scammers can do this and there's very little, if anything, you can do.

Public mobile does give the option of changing your number once every 30 days,  however if you're attached to it, it's not a very feasible option.