Home Phone Receiving calls from people asking I have called them????

[martinbracken]

I have been receiving phone calls from people asking why I have called them.???? They say that my number has just called them and they are calling back to ask why.  I am not making those calls.  I reported this to VM a while back and they said moving off copper wires onto fibre should stop it . I have moved to fibre and the it is still happening any Ideas?

[goslow]

One possibility is your phone number has been used by telephone scammers as a fake caller ID. That is mentioned on here every so often. Usually the scammers switch fake numbers fairly regularly and the problem goes away.

Do the return callers give any explanation about why they are calling your number (e.g. they were left a message, they complain to you about a scam call seemingly from your number etc.)?

[martinbracken]

Thanks but according to VM that is not possible with VM Home phone . They simply they received a missed call from my number

[Jodi_S · Accepted solution]

Hi martinbracken,

Thanks for posting on our community forums. We're sorry to hear this is happening, especially as you are not physically calling these numbers.

The information provided from our valued member @goslow is valid and could be a possibility.

I have enquired with our back office faults team and they have asked if you're able to try another handset, just to eliminate this is not your equipment causing the issue. The other suggestion is to unplug your handset. Would you be willing to try this for 24 hours, as we will be able to check your call history to see if it is still making these calls with your handset unplugged. 

Can we also ask if all your inbound calls are from people saying you have called them, when you have not or just some selected numbers? 

Kind regards Jodi. 

[goslow]

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@martinbracken wrote:

Thanks but according to VM that is not possible with VM Home phone . They simply they received a missed call from my number

You shouldn't necessarily believe everything you are told by VM's telephone agents!

There could be other possible explanations to the scam caller explanation.

Do you ever see any trace of unexpected outgoing call charges on your VM bill?

[martinbracken]

Hi Jodi, I am receiving inbound calls from others. I have unplugged the handset but it  the problem is still happening. I probably receive one of these calls a week at the moment. When I reported the fault to 150 they said they were escalating the problem. Two days later I received a call form VM saying the fault had been fixed. Two days after that I received another call saying "why have you called me". Th problem is still live. I rang 150 to try and tell them that fault has not been fixed. After trying to get me to go through the "reset your modem script"  they put me on hold for about 40 minutes then put me through the marketing department who had no idea what I was talking about . After waiting for 20 minutes more I hung up!!! The fault number is F010915797. It is impossible to talk to an engineer on 150 and the telephone staff have a script which will they will not deviate from, and no matter how much I escalate they still say it is not possible for a scammer to have spoofed my number. I don't believe them Oh and by the way there are is nothing on my outgoing call logs saying I am making these calls.  If you could escalte this for me that would be great. Regards Martin 

[martinbracken]

Hi @goslow. You are right there it is now impossible to actually talk to an engineer only a telephone agent who has a script they have to go through and seemingly have absolutely no idea what I am talking about. They even suggested that I block the numbers calling me as they are scams!!!! Thanks for your help but it seems i am stuck with this.

[martinbracken]

Hi @jodi_s I am not sure what happened to my reply  or why. your reply was marked as a solution. In brief replacing the handset made no difference. VM gave me fault number F010915797 2 days later told me it was fixed. two days latter I received another call. There is nothing on my outgoing call logs. I tried calling 150 and telling them the fault was not fixed but due to the inability of the telephone agents to understand the problem they kept me hold for an 40 minutes before passing me to the marketing department. After another 20 minute wait I hung up. If you can escalate this please do Regards Martin

[Jodi_S]

Hi martinbracken,

Thanks for coming back to me, I have no idea why your post was down as an accepted solution, as the diagnostics have not resolved the issue.

We do apologise that this issue has still not been resolved and your phone is still continuously making calls you know nothing about. 

Due to this, we will need to investigate this matter further for you. I am going to pop you over a private message to take some details, please click on the envelope at the top of the page to accept the chat.

Kind regards Jodi. 

[goslow]

Sounds like there is something more going on with your connection than a simple case of number spoofing. Normally that does not last long as the scammers switch to another fake caller ID. If the people phoning you back are only reporting a missed call, and no mention of accusing you of a scam attempt, then that sounds more like a fault of some kind.

In the meantime, see if your phone has any features which might help with the problem.

Some phones have a feature called 'VIP contacts' (terminology varies between manufacturers). This allows you to make your known contacts in the phone address book 'VIPs'. You can give VIPs a unique ring tone. When you hear the unique ring tone you can tell if it is someone known to you from the ring tone without going to the phone.

Some phones also have a 'Do Not Disturb' feature where you can set a period of time where the phone does not ring, just goes to answering machine. This can be used in conjunction with the VIP setting so VIPs, who are known to you, can break through the DND block.

If you set a very long DND time, in conjunction with the VIP calling, you can leave a message on the answering machine explaining there is fault on the line which is calling unknown numbers. Anyone calling, who you don't know, gets the answering machine message and your VIP callers can still contact you.

All of the above depends on what features your phone has but they are common across many modern models from different manufacturers. Check your phone manual to see if you have any of the above. It might help while you wait for VM to investigate.