Incoming Call from my own Landline Phone Number

My phone rang and I didn't answer because this time of day I get a lot of telemarketers. I did *69 after the call and found the caller was my own land line number - did someone hack my phone or what? I wanted to report this to Verizon immediately but no matter what I did it kept booting me to the auto-animated helper. What kind of call would come from my own number?

Accepted answers

smith6612

This is what is known as CallerID Spoofing. Very trivial if you have access to circuits like PRIs, T1s or VoIP to do. There are ways to validate CallerID to reveal the actual calling number or line; sadly almost no one uses such methods.

AFAIK, Verizon does not have a ringback feature that calls your home if you dial your own number. Another telephone company I've used, Frontier, has such a feature where their switch will call you if you dial your own number. Useful for home intercoms or what not.

All comments

kaykay6

The same thing just happened to me and I called verizon. Verizon referred me to the "Unlawful Call Center". They were closed--how ironic. In my case, I saw the incoming call with my name and number and answered it. The recording stated that a credit card was about to expire and if I wanted to address the issue I should press 9. Of course I am concerned, however, I do not yet know what to do about it.

skip77

thx kaykay - i have had no recurrent call but it is a problem for sure. so many crooked people in the days we are living - a shame.

smith6612

justbarb

this just happened to me again-3rd time

storymd

I too have had 2 calls this month from my own land line. I did not pick up. I believe this is an attempt at fraud?

skip77

I did speak with Verizon about this a month or so ago. They also connected me with the fraud unit and I spoke with them. They did not seem overly concerned and said as another post above states that it is spoofing and not a threat so long as the home owner does not follow any directions mentioned in the spoof voice mail such as hit a certain key to make a certain choice etc... as long as you do not act on the information they provide, nothing will come from it. That is what I was told. They also started a trace or watch of some kind of my land line to keep track of incoming calls. Only in America can we have a service like the Do Not Call list only to have crooks and low lifes ignore it and badger us with telemarking and spam calls anyway. These people should be hunted down and punished.

VerizonHeadache1

Hi,

I also had this experience, along with many calls from spammers.

I contacted the Verizon Unlawful Call Department. The gentleman and I had a very long conversation.

The gentleman in this department offered two "solutions," though not permanent fixes for the issues.

One, is to collect the information about the caller and the calls (date, time, number which appears on caller ID, etc.) and report them on the Do Not Call site. This is a time consuming option as each call has to be individually entered on teh Do Not Call site. But, there is power in numbers. Hopefully the Feds will see this is a huge problem and they will put more people and finances into solving this issue (especially since people are being bilked out of billions of dollars).

Second, is to install a program called NoMoRobo. This is NOT a Verizon product, or even a Verizon endorsed product. But the gentleman with whom I spoke has had many reports of it working for others.

I have been maintaining a database of these calls and there are two primary groups calling, yet they use over a dozen different identities and phone numbers.

I also posted this information in the post "I'm Getting Calls from my Own Number."

skip77

very good information - thank you.

shdendy

Didn't know anything about SPOOFING until this started happening shortly after the new year with my landline. So far we've only had 3 calls and at first I was worried that someone was trying to use our phone number for illicit purposes, but after reading your post I feel abit more at ease.

One of the calls I briefly heard a person speak a foreign language. It happened so fast that I couldn't make out what he was saying and then there was total silence. Due to the number of phone calls we receive from telemarketers and those unavailable numbers I bought a phone that block calls, but when it's your own number flashing up on the screen I don't think this feature would work. I wish that the Feds would do something about this because it is getting totally out of control.

Anyway, thank you again for posting this info. I will share it with my family and if the calls persist I too will file a formal complaint.

maddog9991

Here we are in 2019 with FiOS and the same situation still occurs. I had 6 calls just this week as described. You would think with FiOS and all the technology to look at caller id, that spam calls would be a thing of the past. Worst part is, someone called me back stating my number was calling them in hang-up calls. I suspect that is also part of the issue when they spoof your phone number. Seriously, Verizon, you have been in the phone business for decades, this should be an easy solution.

maddog9991

We have had nomorobo for years. This did not fix the problem. They are getting past nomorobo because they spoof local call numbers. It's called neighborhood spoofing.

Shame they have a name for it. To be honest, this is really harassment. And Do Not Call? Seriously, been on that list since it started. Totally useless.

[Deleted User]

In order to keep discussion on the community current, this topic has been locked to prevent new replies. If you have a similar question or issue that you wish to discuss, then please feel free to post a new message on the most relevant board. Thanks!