Can numbers be spoofed - received odd phone call apparantly i rang someone

Forums › Vodafone New Zealand (including Vodafone, WxC, Farmside) › Can numbers be spoofed - received odd phone call apparantly i rang someone

Morgenmuffel

596 posts

Ultimate Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#288454 30-Jun-2021 16:55

Ok I received about an hour ago, a phone call from a woman who asked if i had been trying to contact her 16 yr old daughter, which I hadn't obviously, she seemed to think it might be some sort of spoofing thing.

I have checked the myvodafone account (after getting it reset as I manage to lock myself out, vodafone heldesk were absolutely excellent on that account) and there is no suspicious activity

Is this possible? as far as i can tell the daughter forwarded the number to her mother, so they possibly didn't ring back the number they received the call from

'We love to buy books because we believe we’re buying the time to read them.' WARREN ZEVON

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Mehrts

498 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2736972 30-Jun-2021 17:04

They absolutely can be spoofed.

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

BlinkyBill

1443 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#2736973 30-Jun-2021 17:09

OR, is this social engineering preparatory to a scam?

MichaelC

32 posts

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Vodafone NZ

#2737186 1-Jul-2021 09:36

It definitely sounds like spoofing. There's not too much we can do in terms of stopping it, but I'd recommend seeing whether the calls stop. Worst case if they don't stop and it is quite a regular issue, you may need to change your number.

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SirHumphreyAppleby

1967 posts

Uber Geek

#2737218 1-Jul-2021 10:12

MichaelC:

I'd recommend seeing whether the calls stop. Worst case if they don't stop and it is quite a regular issue, you may need to change your number.

Changing the number won't stop the calls. No sense changing the number unless you get a bunch of people calling you back, in which case it's not a matter of finding out, it's a matter of being forced to change.

dylanp

827 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

#2737435 1-Jul-2021 16:31

MichaelC:
It definitely sounds like spoofing. There's not too much we can do in terms of stopping it, but I'd recommend seeing whether the calls stop. Worst case if they don't stop and it is quite a regular issue, you may need to change your number.

Worth running through the nuisance calls process maybe, assuming it's an option?

SpartanVXL

843 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2737436 1-Jul-2021 16:44

Related: that scam call targeting chinese residents by spoofing the China embassy’s number in Auckland made the rounds again. Two people I know got it but don’t speak mandarin so were confused as to why the CN embassy was ringing them.

Morgenmuffel

596 posts

Ultimate Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#2737724 2-Jul-2021 09:03

Thanks guys, I haven't had any further calls so hopefully it was a one off, just really freaked me out.

'We love to buy books because we believe we’re buying the time to read them.' WARREN ZEVON

Morgenmuffel

596 posts

Ultimate Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#2737731 2-Jul-2021 09:08

SpartanVXL: Related: that scam call targeting chinese residents by spoofing the China embassy’s number in Auckland made the rounds again. Two people I know got it but don’t speak mandarin so were confused as to why the CN embassy was ringing them.

Ah, i was getting phonecalls every few weeks for a period last year from a chinese person/autodialer what ever you call it, i just assumed they were trying to sell me something as i don't speak the language

'We love to buy books because we believe we’re buying the time to read them.' WARREN ZEVON

Bung

4547 posts

Uber Geek

#2737750 2-Jul-2021 09:42

Morgenmuffel:
Thanks guys, I haven't had any further calls so hopefully it was a one off, just really freaked me out.

If the call came from your phone rather than a phone spoofing your number it would be in your call history. I have occasionally put my phone back in my pocket with the screen still active and had butt dials I wasn't aware of (usually to someone on my recently called list). I used to use an app that asked for confirmation before calling but that has been dropped from the app store.