I received a call from my own phone number!!!

Can any of you tech savy folks tell me how in the HELL did I get a phone call and my own phone number shows up on the callier ID??? I heard something about this happening but never had it happen to me before. Is that possible with some blackweb app?? Thanks for any insight on this matter.

I had a person once do the same thing. It's usually a harmless phone app that calls with a prank but the user needs a phone number to put in and it helps if the caller ID recognizes it as legit. Or a caller spoofed their number to look like yours. Either way it's someone you know.

How does one "spoof" my number?? Can they call anyone and my phone number appear???

How does one "spoof" my number?? Can they call anyone and my phone number appear??? Originally Posted by DocHolyday

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=fake+caller+id+app

Thanks for the insight. Geez, do some people have nothing better to do than create BS & trouble???

Such tactics have been used in emails for years. Not surprised it has migrated to phones. After all, they are computers as well, are just as susceptible to the malicious stuff and there are a lot more of them around.

And yes, there is all kinds of malicious stuff out there. All you can do is be vigilant when it comes to keeping your computers/devices up to date and protected.

You can never be too careful.

I want to send out a big thanks for those who took time to respond. It's scarry to know this technology is out there and the trouble it can cause.

I JUST HAD A MISSED CALL, SO OF COURSE I RETURN IT AND THIS ELDERLY LADY ANSWERS AND TELLS ME IT WASNT HER AND HER PHONE HAD BEEN RIGHT NEXT TO HER. I SENT HER A SCREENSHOT SO SHE DIDNT THINK I WAS CRAZY AND SHE CALLED BACK JUST AS CONFUSED AS I WAS. IDK WHATS GOING ON BUT ITS GONNA KEEP ME ON MY TIP TOES FOR SURE.

I JUST HAD A MISSED CALL, SO OF COURSE I RETURN IT AND THIS ELDERLY LADY ANSWERS AND TELLS ME IT WASNT HER AND HER PHONE HAD BEEN RIGHT NEXT TO HER. I SENT HER A SCREENSHOT SO SHE DIDNT THINK I WAS CRAZY AND SHE CALLED BACK JUST AS CONFUSED AS I WAS. IDK WHATS GOING ON BUT ITS GONNA KEEP ME ON MY TIP TOES FOR SURE. Originally Posted by AMAZING.ALANNAH

Sounds like the same thing is happening to you. I will not answer such a call or a blocked number call because I know it's a scam.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caller_ID_spoofing

Incidentally, they also spoof the numbers so that the ID is on the same "pattern" as yours..

For example:

If your number is 888-555-1212

they will call from a number in the 888-555-xxxx range.

This, apparently, is an attempt to get your brain to think it is someone local (i.e. cell phone) or a way to get you to answer it thinking it is not another scam.

One thing you can do, and it is an interesting excercise, is to answer them, fuck with them, then save the number in your phone named "FAKE CC" or "FAKE VACATION"...

Then, down the road you have a "history" that can be referenced when/if the day that a class-action lawsuit is filed....

But the biggest benefit is I get to fuck with them.

Do a youtube search on "fake tech support" and there is a dude on there that keeps the caller on the "hook" for 30 minutes or so....right up to the time where the scammer cannot run the cc card info.... then he blasts them.. awesome..

Phone spoofing has been around for ages. Once upon a time a couple of pranksters spoofed another providers phone number as well as mine and made calls to each of us as the other. That was hilarious. I should dig up the audio files and post. Had no idea what a rusty trombone or a Belgian waffle was till then. Lol

Several years ago, I downloaded an app that would allow me to make prank calls. In the app, you could put in the # you wanted to dial, then put in the # that you want to show up on the caller id. You also chose a recorded prank from a list and make the call. After the call, the app would send you the recording and you could save it.

Some states won't allow this app, because they're 2 party states, so its only available in 1 party states, like Texas. In a 1 party state, only 1 party needs to know the call is being recorded

This has been an eye opening thread for me. Thank all of you for contributing and pushing back my technical ignorance boundaries.

there is a prank app called prankdial.com that replaces your phone number with a different random one, in one of the older versions it allowed you to decide what that number would be, but with updates it picks the new random number