Why did I see calls on my device I didn't make?

[AlBuc]

For the past two days I have been getting calls and voicemail from a number I don't recognize stating that my number has dialed them. Both cases were at around 10am and each time the phone was sitting in my radio dock charger; in the first case I was just getting ready for the day and in the second I wasn't even awake yet. In Recent Calls, the number calling me is recorded, as is the call where I was able to answer, yet there is no record of my phone sending out a call to this number. I know I haven't been calling and I can't think of a way that the phone could be doing it by some bug without leaving a record. I'm very confused and am not even sure which questions to ask.

What could cause a "ghost" call like these?

[Weth]

Unscrupulous company spoofing your number for bogus sales calls.

[dexman · Accepted solution]

Most of the telemarketers that hound me on my landline and cellphone have moved away from spoofing working non-related telephone numbers.

The trend now is to send a non-working number that is controlled by a VoIP or cable provider. If the call is to your landline, the information will look different than calls originating from a traditional RBOC.

The name field will usually contain the name of a city & state as opposed to the name of a person or company. Also, the words will contain a mixture of upper and lowercase letters. It is true that cable companies will mix cases, but, RBOCs like Verizon still use all uppercase letters.

[darthmojo]

Did they state that they received a call from this number but did not specify your exact number? If that is the case this sounds like social engineering. Area codes and exchanges are public information, so the first 6 digits of your 10 digit number is something easily guessed. Most social engineers just dial all 10000 of the number combinations that the last 4 digits could be and leave weird, cryptic messages, like "Hey this is the IRS and you owe us money and call us now." Do not call those numbers back. Do not engage them. Contact DoNotCall.gov, register your number and then also block that number. TruCaller is also a good app that helps filter out Spam calls. Hope this helps. May the Force be with you.

[TODKIT91]

I have had the same experience. The people calling me to say that I called them aren't asking for anything. They sound like you would expect--either just curious as to why I called them or angry that I have called them and hung up. As with the first post, there is no indication of an outgoing call on my iPhone "Recents" display.

[JanetVerizon]

I did not get an irate callback -- just noticed a month late that Veizon showed me making calls I didn't make. I called the number and the phone vomozny response was that they couldn't find the mailbox for that number. I logged the number in Trucaller even though there was no indication they had called me. 

I would think Verizon, which generates the logs, would have some comment.