# Okaaaayyyy...so that happened. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 30, 2015, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okaaaayyyy-so-that-happened/711364 "2015-01-30T19:24:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2015, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okaaaayyyy-so-that-happened/711364/1 "2015-01-30T19:24:39Z")
I have only had my cell phone number for a month or two, and I keep getting calls that seem to be for the previous owner of the number. I’m getting tired of it, so rather than letting unfamiliar numbers go to voice mail as I had been, I have been starting to try to bat them down, get off lists. Today it was from this woman’s credit card company. After answering, I actually had to wait on hold, but at least they kept updating my place in line and it was going down fast, so I put it on speaker and went about my business. All I was doing was reading online articles–no music or TV or talking or anything. Then someone (a man) came on the line with an aggrieved-sounding voice, who said–I swear, this is verbatim–“Sir, you sound like a terrorist. Are you part of a sleeper cell?” I was nonplussed (in the classic sense) and sputtered “What?!?” Then he hung up on me. Just so bizarre. I guess he thought he was still talking to his previous customer? ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2015, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okaaaayyyy-so-that-happened/711364/2 "2015-01-30T20:00:47Z")
And now it occurs to me to wonder what my file at the NSA looks like now… ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2015, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okaaaayyyy-so-that-happened/711364/3 "2015-01-30T20:05:58Z")
After five years, some asshole is still using our number and running up bad debt. We still get calls from debt collectors for this fucker. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2015, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okaaaayyyy-so-that-happened/711364/4 "2015-01-30T20:12:26Z")
That sucks. Maybe change it? ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2015, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okaaaayyyy-so-that-happened/711364/5 "2015-01-30T20:14:45Z")
…So, _are_ you part of a sleeper cell? ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2015, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okaaaayyyy-so-that-happened/711364/6 "2015-01-30T20:16:33Z")
So. You evaded the question. Very suspicious. Hmmmm. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2015, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okaaaayyyy-so-that-happened/711364/7 "2015-01-30T21:07:26Z")
So your name is **Slacker** and you sound quiet like you’re \*\*sleeping \*\*on the other end of the line. His conclusions seem valid. In other news, this thread reminds me that I have finally forgot the name of the people who had my old phone number before me – they sounded like real deadbeats. ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2015, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okaaaayyyy-so-that-happened/711364/8 "2015-01-30T21:43:15Z")
I’ve lived in my house for a little over six years and about a month or so ago I got a call on my landline looking for the woman who lived here previously (her boyfriend actually owned the house). It was really strange because I’ve had that particular landline number since I moved to town over 19 years ago. ---
**Author:** ![DummyGladHands](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/49beb7/32.png) [@DummyGladHands](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DummyGladHands)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2015, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okaaaayyyy-so-that-happened/711364/9 "2015-01-30T21:47:33Z")
I would like to know why my late husband, dead for 12 years, gets mail at the home I live in now with my new boyfriend, where he, the late husband, never lived. And why sometimes the mail is addressed to “New BF” first name and “My” first name as Mr. and Mrs. Late Husband surname. ---
**Author:** ![August\_West](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/august_west/32/18069_2.png) [@August\_West](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/August_West)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2015, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okaaaayyyy-so-that-happened/711364/10 "2015-01-30T21:51:09Z")
> [@DummyGladHands](#): > > I would like to know why my late husband, dead for 12 years, gets mail at the home I live in now with my new boyfriend, where he, the late husband, never lived. And why sometimes the mail is addressed to “New BF” first name and “My” first name as Mr. and Mrs. Late Husband surname. Glitch in the Matrix. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2015, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okaaaayyyy-so-that-happened/711364/11 "2015-01-30T21:57:17Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > That sucks. Maybe change it? Pretty much all numbers have previous owners. It would likely just be a different set of nuisance calls to deal with. I’ve managed to squelch most of the current ones. I just love the ones who call and ask: Is this Sestooian Scrubjuk? No. Does he live there? No. Do you know him? No, but I wish you’d put the fucker in jail. Oh. Do you know where he moved to? :smack: ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2015, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okaaaayyyy-so-that-happened/711364/12 "2015-01-31T03:06:28Z")
My old phone number apparently once belonged to a hair salon. For the first six months, I was constantly getting calls from people wanting to make an appointment with “Angelo”. Those eventually faded away and were replaced with fraud alerts from Wells Fargo. Those were eventually replaced by calls from Google Business Listings, which were actually more persistent and annoying than the bill collectors who called later. ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2015, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okaaaayyyy-so-that-happened/711364/13 "2015-01-31T03:18:05Z")
Is there a reason you don’t block the numbers right from the phone? I just select the number from the call log and “add to reject list.” ---
**Author:** ![Emtar\_KronJonDerSohn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/58956e/32.png) [@Emtar\_KronJonDerSohn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Emtar_KronJonDerSohn)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2015, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okaaaayyyy-so-that-happened/711364/14 "2015-01-31T03:32:04Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Pretty much all numbers have previous owners. It would likely just be a different set of nuisance calls to deal with. I’ve managed to squelch most of the current ones. I just love the ones who call and ask: > > Is this Sestooian Scrubjuk? > No. > Does he live there? > No. > Do you know him? > No, but I wish you’d put the fucker in jail. > Oh. Do you know where he moved to? :smack: I heard he moved to Scranton. So you must know him? No. Well if you don’t know him how did you hear he moved to Scranton? Well, the last zombie debt collector asked “do you know where he moved to?” and I heard myself respond “Scranton.” … ? I think he totally bought it, too! ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2015, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okaaaayyyy-so-that-happened/711364/15 "2015-01-31T04:50:20Z")
> [@DummyGladHands](#): > > I would like to know why my late husband, dead for 12 years, gets mail at the home I live in now with my new boyfriend, where he, the late husband, never lived. And why sometimes the mail is addressed to “New BF” first name and “My” first name as Mr. and Mrs. Late Husband surname. This rather lengthy and entertaining post: [Let me tell you the story of Ms. Releasha Jones](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=17301013#post17301013) by **OneCentStamp** , April 18, 2014, explains how easily the telejackasses will latch onto any shred of a scrap of contact information they can, and begin to deluge you with their telejackassery. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2015, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okaaaayyyy-so-that-happened/711364/16 "2015-01-31T18:30:49Z")
> [@Emtar\_KronJonDerSohn](#): > > I heard he moved to Scranton. > So you must know him? > No. > Well if you don’t know him how did you hear he moved to Scranton? > Well, the last zombie debt collector asked “do you know where he moved to?” and I heard myself respond “Scranton.” > … ? > I think he totally bought it, too! I want to just scream at them: “IT’S A FUCKING PHONE NUMBER! HOW THE HELL WOULD THAT TRANSLATE TO ME KNOWING WHO HAD IT BEFORE I DID?!” ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2015, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okaaaayyyy-so-that-happened/711364/17 "2015-01-31T19:06:41Z")
A number of years ago I got frequent calls from a collection company for the woman who lived in the apartment below me. They weren’t calling to ask me about my neighbor, they were calling for her. I almost always let unfamiliar numbers go to voicemail so I never actually spoke to them. One day I did answer and when they asked for her I informed them that she was my downstairs neighbor, I didn’t know her well, I didn’t know her number, and my number had zero connection to her. After that, the calls stopped. I have no idea how my number became associated with her. Obviously it must have been connected to the fact that we had the same address but are there directories that link numbers to addresses? ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2015, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okaaaayyyy-so-that-happened/711364/18 "2015-01-31T19:57:01Z")
Maybe you should stop answering the phone by saying “death to America”? ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2015, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okaaaayyyy-so-that-happened/711364/19 "2015-02-01T00:22:04Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > I want to just scream at them: “IT’S A FUCKING PHONE NUMBER! HOW THE HELL WOULD THAT TRANSLATE TO ME KNOWING WHO HAD IT BEFORE I DID?!” The usual scenario is like this: Most folks who run up debts are lowlifes who have roommates or ex’s. Which roommate / ex often still has the same residence and phone number long after the deadbeat has moved on. And who often know at least roughly where the deadbeat went. So asking the person at what was once a good phone number is very often going to give a good lead towards the deadbeat. Sometimes not, but often yes. The hassle for you is when they don’t believe you when you say the number was first assigned to you on date X and all their lead info was from before then. So they keep hassling you in hopes you’ll quit covering for the deadbeat ex. LSLGuy Former owner of a skip tracing outfit. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2015, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okaaaayyyy-so-that-happened/711364/20 "2015-02-01T00:41:59Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > I want to just scream at them: “IT’S A FUCKING PHONE NUMBER! HOW THE HELL WOULD THAT TRANSLATE TO ME KNOWING WHO HAD IT BEFORE I DID?!” Reverse phone lookup. I had to do that when we got our current number and we kept getting calls in Spanish. Turns out the last person to have our number was a Hispanic person who lived in a apartment building and people were still calling to be buzzed in. I called that building’s front desk, told them the number no longer belonged to anyone who lived there, and we haven’t had anyone speaking Spanish since. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okaaaayyyy-so-that-happened/711364.md?page=2)