Skip to main content

The Weirdest Thing Happened Yesterday....

So over the last week or so I've been getting a whole bunch of random phone calls from different numbers starting with area code 778. This is the same area code as my cellphone so I found it weird but most of the time it only rang once or twice and then hung up before I could answer. I finally answered one of the calls the other day and it ended up being one of those stupid pre-recorded "WestJet" things where I was apparently picked for a survey or something - except that I haven't flown WestJet before so I just hung up since it was clearly a scam of some sort. 

Yesterday morning I get a phone call from some random guy. 

"Hello?" 
"Hi, I've been getting a pre-recorded message from you for a few days now...." 
"You have?? I'm not sure how....this is my own personal cellphone."
"Huh. Really?"
"Is it a WestJet message of some sort? If it is, I've been getting the same thing for about a week now..."
"Yup, it is. I'm getting super annoyed so I decided to call the number back and give the company a piece of my mind."
"Haha, I don't blame you! It's super annoying, hey? I wish I could help you stop them...but like I said, this is just my personal cellphone."

Anyways, our conversation continued for another minute or so in which I became totally freaked out because this guy knew my first name. He said he was able to look up my number and find out my name. 

Right after I hung up with him I called my service provider. I explained what had just happened and the conversation I had just had with this guy. I was totally freaked out! The lady told me that it's not actually that uncommon. Apparently anyone can steal a person's number and make it so that that number displays on the caller ID instead of the actual number they are calling from. For these stupid survey things, or scams, or whatever, they just take random people's numbers and make it so they show up on the caller ID - it increases the likelihood that someone will pick up the phone. How many times have you not answered because it's a 1-800 number? I know I have....

As I continued to talk to my service provider, she told me that there was nothing I could do but that it wasn't really going to affect me either. They're not actually using my number so my phone plan isn't compromised or anything and there's *apparently* no privacy issues either; the only information people can get is anything listed in a directory or whatever information I have allowed to be public. 

Needless to say, I'm still a little creeped out by it all but I'm really not sure there is anything I can do. If you google "fake caller ID" or anything similar it shows all sorts of websites that tell you how to change the number on your caller ID so I suppose it's just another area of technology that's becoming more popular. Gone are the days of avoiding people's phone calls....they can now just change the number they're calling from and trick you into picking up. Ugh. 

Has this happened to anyone else?  

Comments

  1. misty12 September 2014 at 13:20

    It hasn't happened with my phone number but I have definitely gotten junk calls that showed up on my caller ID as a personal name and number (vs a 1-800). Now I know why! Super gross.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Unknown12 September 2014 at 15:39

      Yep, now you know! I had no idea that it was even possible to do so, but perhaps I just choose to be ignorant towards the shady things that can be done with technology.

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Surgery, Recovery, and Christmas

Hey everyone!! I can't believe it has been so long since I last wrote on here. It makes me realize just how crazy busy we were over the holidays - well, over the entire month of December, really. We are now into 2016. Can you believe it?! Another year has come and gone, and now we stand in the first days of a new one. What will this next year hold? Your guess is as good as mine. I have grand dreams and goals for myself and my family - so we shall see what 2016 brings to us! It feels like SO, so long ago already, but Julia had her frontal orbital advancement surgery on November 27th, 2015 just as planned. We had to be at the hospital bright and early like last time - 6:45am, with her last feeding at 2:45am. So once again, I set my alarm for 2:30am and got up to nurse her one last time before she began fasting. We arrived and went into pre-op. Got her dressed up in her little gown, and waited for the nurse to come take her away. It was both harder and easier this time. We knew ...
Post a Comment
Read more

How to Meal Plan

Happy October! So. I took on the task of meal planning again yesterday and decided to try doing it for the entire month of October; just like I did all of September last time. I am accustomed to doing two week planning but decided to buckle down and do the entire month again. It was a lot harder this time around! I think it was due to the fact that I just don't have the same volume of stuff in the freezer to use so I had to come up with meals that both used up things in the house AND required new items to be bought. Last month was strictly using up what I had in the house already (except dairy and veggies) so I knew exactly what I had to work with. This time was much more open-ended; I'm coming to learn that I do better when I have less options to choose from. I actually find it quite daunting to have limitless possibilities. I figured I would walk you guys through my meal planning process. I had a friend of mine do the same a while ago (check her out  here ) and i...
3 comments
Read more

We're set for Julia's first surgery! Eeek!

Did everyone have a great Easter? Does it feel like it was FOREVER ago already? It sure does for me! It's funny how quickly we go back to the grind of every day life and those days spent with family and friends seem like a distant memory. We had a great time visiting with family. Here's a picture of the cousins together. We had a full house with Chad's sister visiting along with her husband and four boys. Never a dull moment with six kids in the house! We shared many meals together and logged a lot of time outside in the beautiful sunshine in our backyard. There was coloring and games and easter egg hunting; Abby is still asking where her cousins are. I'm sure I must be pretty boring in comparison! After Easter my oldest sister came to visit. She had the privilege of leaving her two boys at home with her husband and coming to stay with us for a few days. It was wonderful being able to catch up; we spent many hours sitting on the couches talking. She got to m...
2 comments
Read more