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Monday, March 13th, 2017 4:02 PM

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Someone is using my own phone number

Some one is using my phone number on their caller ID. I have recieved 70-80 calls from people saying I called them. One guy said it was some sort of credit card offer. He then called the number back then got me. I have called 4 times to report this to AT&T and have went to the store once. On one call while  talking to the fraud department the guy tried to sell me direct tv. You would think that AT&T would be concerned about this considering all the number that have called me begin with 218-259-XXXX. These are all AT&T numbers.  Someone is obviously targeting AT&T customers for some sort of scam. And no one there seems to really give a xxxx. I have been a AT&T customer for 22 years with the same phone number. The only option anyone has given me is just change your number.

Accepted Solution

Official Solution

Employee

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420 Messages

2 years ago

Hello Community,

Although this is an older thread, we wanted to take the great input from @formerlyknownas and others, and combine it into a single response.

 

Unfortunately, there is a common scamming practice known as number spoofing where one’s phone number can be used to call other people and attempt to get personal and private information. This is illegal and almost impossible to stop. As this practice allows scammers to personally choose the number that will be shown on the recipient’s caller ID. Your account or usage is in no way affected by number spoofing.

 

Our recommendation:

Download AT&T Call Protect. In addition to blocking numbers from known fraudsters, AT&T Call Protect also provides suspected spam warnings and lets you manually block and report individual callers. 

 

The Federal Trade Commission has more information about Caller ID spoofing scams on its website: https://www.fcc.gov/spoofing.

 

We do have the option to change your phone number which may act as a deterrent but is not a guaranteed solution. You can learn more about number spoofing and what to do about it on our Cyber Aware blog.

 

Thank you for contacting AT&T!

Accepted Solution

ACE - Sage

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116.6K Messages

7 years ago

This is called number spoofing.  It happens in short bursts and then the spoofer moves on.

Unfortunately this make this illegal practice hard to stop because no one can catch the spoofer.  

The spoofer uses a computer to fake a caller ID.  Then processes its sales calls.  

ATT, Apple and Google are working to prevent these, but it's still a work in process.

 

Accepted Solution

ACE - Sage

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116.6K Messages

6 years ago

@Annoyed352

@tk4711

1.   Read about spoofing  https://www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/spoofing-and-caller-id

2.   https://hiya.com   Ive been using it for months. It works great on Spam, telemarketing, fraud and robo calls. It alerts on about half of spoofed calls.
keep in mind spoofed calls are valid numbers and may belong to an innocent user, but has been temporarily “spoofed” by a computer. If a number is “spoofed” and not in use, it will usually show up as “screened” and Hiya will give you the option to block the call in the future.
Between hiya and Call protect (by Hiya) I almost never get invalid calls anymore On either phone.

3.   https://www.att.com/esupport/article.html#!/wireless/KM1147710

AT&T offers Call Protect FREE!     Unlike Verizon charging $3 per line.   It works on most phones.

4.   Why this may be as good as it gets:  

 

883538AD-A01F-4803-A8FD-7E661BA9ABCB.png

 

1 Attachment

ACE - Expert

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16.5K Messages

7 years ago

@ChevySilverado Sorry. There isn't anything they can do.  

Someone is just duplicating your caller ID info, it's completely outside AT&T's ability to stop it.

 

 

Contributor

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1 Message

7 years ago

Apparently this is still an unsolvable problem for AT&T because I have made at least a dozen calls to the Go Phone / Pay as you go division and they have told me that the only solution is to change my number
I recently changed my cell phone number after moving from the Virgin islands back to the United States. My daughter was contacted through FaceTime and told by the teenage girl , who is using my number, that she is still able to use my number / her former number, to send and receive messages AND READ AND REPLY TO MINE
I have contacted both the FCC and FBI, as suggested by online sources found while researching the matter
Numerous messages have been sent to the intruding individual(s) , including instructions on how to resolve the problem and restore my privacy, just in case the intrusion was unintentional
Has anyone got anymore ideas?
Changing my number is not an option as it is already tied to all business and personal contacts.
Thank you for your assistance in this matter

Ryansright

ACE - Expert

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64.7K Messages

7 years ago

@Ryansright Being able to contact you with your old number via FaceTime or iMessage has nothing to do with ATT. You need to deregister that number from your iCloud account. Go to settings/FaceTime and settings/messages/send & receive to remove that number.

ACE - Sage

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116.6K Messages

7 years ago

@Ryansright

It is not a solvable problem.  The number spoofers are using a computer to illegally spoof a number or caller ID.  I've been referred all the way to the FBI by ATT.  Even the FBI is at a loss to prevent the problem and catch the perpetrators.  They have little insentive to try as it only amounts to a nuisance. 

 

Contributor

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1 Message

7 years ago

Hi: My name is Javier V M  my aka Name is : Jeovany Z

     I am a tenants in DownTown Los Angeles Ca 90014 . USA.

 

     a man Name Christian he is Mexican also he steel hang out here and my building with another tenant #  also he got my email address?  [edited for privacy – please do not post personal information]

Tutor

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7 Messages

6 years ago

I just received a text from a number with the same area code and prefix as mine, claiming I just called them. I told them that I have not called anyone yet today, but he produced a screenshot of the missed call. Not sure if this is something to be concerned about or not. It's probably just the "new" spam. For all I know the person who texted me could be a scammer.

ACE - Expert

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64.7K Messages

6 years ago

@chriswhite1203 Whoever texted you likely did receive a call from your number but that just means your number was spoofed by whoever did call them.

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