Background: I have a small business account with Verizon with about 12 lines open. I have some of my family members on this account as well. In August my mother died and I dropped her number from my account a few days later. A few nights ago I received a call from my “Mother” (I had not removed her contact info from my phone). Surprised, I answered the call only to be hung up on. I tried to call back and got the “party you are calling is unavailable” recording. I tried to call the number the next day and a man with a Eastern European accent answered the call and immediately kept saying, over and over, that I had the wrong number. I explained that he had called my number previously and that it was from my mother’s old line and when I asked where he got my number from he hung up. I called Verizon and asked them how I could have received a call from a line that I had dropped 4 months previous. They tried to give me the run around and said that it was just luck. I called BS and they finally transferred me to a tech rep. He got it when I said there was no way it was a coincidence that I received the call from an old number. He went away for a while saying he would call the number and be back. He came back on the line after some time and said that I did not have a security breach and that he wanted to give me a 35 percent discount on our account for the rest of the year. I took the discount after he assured me over and over that our account was not compromised. But here is the thing; I still can’t figure out how there wasn’t a breach of our account if somebody called me from an dropped line. There is no way they could have accidentally called me and the only other way for them to call my number is to have access to our account information. So, am I correct in my thinking, or is there something else that could have happened? Thanks.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Carrier Do I have a Privacy Hack Issue with Carrier?
- Thread starter servenvolley
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Let's think this through, beginning with what you know:
1) When you cancelled her line, it would be normal for Verizon to recycle that number and assign it to someone else.
2) The person who has your Mother's old number called you.
Both of those things could happen whether the account records are compromised or not.
I'd probably fall on the side that says this was a random occurrence. I get calls every day from numbers that I don't recognize. At this point, your Mother's old phone number should be treated the same, as it isn't connected to your account. I think I would agree with Verizon and ignore it as coincidence unless the calls continue.
If you remain suspicious, you might also keep a close eye on your account charges. You might also change the password to your account login.
1) When you cancelled her line, it would be normal for Verizon to recycle that number and assign it to someone else.
2) The person who has your Mother's old number called you.
Both of those things could happen whether the account records are compromised or not.
I'd probably fall on the side that says this was a random occurrence. I get calls every day from numbers that I don't recognize. At this point, your Mother's old phone number should be treated the same, as it isn't connected to your account. I think I would agree with Verizon and ignore it as coincidence unless the calls continue.
If you remain suspicious, you might also keep a close eye on your account charges. You might also change the password to your account login.
I agree with @chabig. There is no hack involved, just a spammer who happened to call a number still associated with your mother’s old account. Once that number gets assigned to another person, that scenario won’t show as “mother.”
Most likely a coincidence, but changing your Verizon account password would be in order. Use a password generator to make sure it is very strong.
So in 90 days they recycled the old number.
There is a chance that a lot of information exists and is sold by data brokers.
Names, DOB, father/mother name, address, email, phone number. Even SSN.
I’d block that number along with changing account pswd. I think Verizon enforces 2FA/MFA.
There is a chance that a lot of information exists and is sold by data brokers.
Names, DOB, father/mother name, address, email, phone number. Even SSN.
I’d block that number along with changing account pswd. I think Verizon enforces 2FA/MFA.
Spammers and telemarketers spoof local cell numbers all of the time. I've been called by my own cell number on at least two occasions.
It's not a data breach, but rather poor legislation regarding the regulation of telemarketers. It has now become the exception rather than the norm for me to receive these calls from an '800' number or out of state.
It's not a data breach, but rather poor legislation regarding the regulation of telemarketers. It has now become the exception rather than the norm for me to receive these calls from an '800' number or out of state.
Another factor that reduces the likelihood your account was breached: robocalling software and war dialers are often used to call every number in a certain prefix (the first three numbers of a seven digit phone number) using one of the numbers as the call originator. If you did not clear your mother's info from your Contacts app, your iPhone will automatically label an incoming call from a matching number as coming from your mother.
That's what I was thinking - clone. Not a hack. Telemarketer or scammer. But do keep an eye on your monthly bill for usage and charges.
I use the feature "Silence Unknown Callers". Very handy for weeding out the spammers and telemarketers. I was getting 10-15 junk calls a day until I implemented it. I end up blocking 99% of those calls, mostly hangups on voice mail.
I appreciate everybody’s replies but I would like to say one thing: I called the number and it was answered by a person who immediately said I had called a wrong number when I explained that he had called me he hung up. Spam numbers don’t answer when you call them back for the most part do they?
It could be that he misdialed a number and by chance it was your number. When you called back, he didn’t recognize you so he just said wrong number. When a random stranger called me, I would’ve done the same, saying that they dialed a wrong number.
Spam calls usually used a randomly generated number that don’t lead to anything.
I think it’s safe to say that Verizon recycled your mom’s number and it ended up with that guy. I probably wouldn’t put too much thought into it. If you’re concerned, make sure anything that is associated wih that old number is updated to your current number, and change your passwords.
If a scammer uses a legitimate number as the originating number for a scam call (easily done), the real owner of the number will pick up if the number is called back or *69'd.
A lot of the robocalls I receive on my mobile appear to be from the same area code and prefix as my mobile number. Similarly, my Google Voice number, which has an area code and prefix 3,000 miles from my actual location, receives most spam calls "from" its area code and prefix. I think it is pretty clear that scammers feel a seemingly local call–plus with luck, a match to an entry in a target's Contacts–is more likely to result in somebody answering a call. This makes two people victims of these scammers: the target and the person whose phone number is used for Caller ID.
Last edited: