# Repeated calls from numbers not in service. What the hell? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 25, 2019, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repeated-calls-from-numbers-not-in-service-what-the-hell/833057 "2019-04-25T21:58:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2019, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repeated-calls-from-numbers-not-in-service-what-the-hell/833057/1 "2019-04-25T21:58:33Z")
Over the past 6 months or so, I have been having a bizarre, inexplicable recurring issue with my phone. I keep getting calls from numbers that are not in service. Most of the time, since i usually keep my phone on silent, I will miss these calls and discover they aren’t in service when i attempt to call them back. However, on the times I have answered these calls, I just get immediately hung up on as soon as i answer. Then, when I try to call the number back, I get that recording saying “this number is not in service…” What in the hell is happening here? Anyone have any idea? The numbers are always local and always residential (seemingly). I don’t understand what is going on with this and I’m stumped. ---
**Author:** ![slash2k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@slash2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slash2k)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2019, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repeated-calls-from-numbers-not-in-service-what-the-hell/833057/2 "2019-04-25T22:10:13Z")
The caller ID is being spoofed. That is trivially easy with the current system, and it’s usually by scammers overseas and beyond the reach of local law enforcement. See the [FTC’s information](https://www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/spoofing-and-caller-id). ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2019, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repeated-calls-from-numbers-not-in-service-what-the-hell/833057/3 "2019-04-25T22:13:56Z")
> [@slash2k](#): > > The caller ID is being spoofed. That is trivially easy with the current system, and it’s usually by scammers overseas and beyond the reach of local law enforcement. See the [FTC’s information](https://www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/spoofing-and-caller-id). I get spoofing. But what’s the end game here? That’s what’s confusing to me. What exactly is going on (or going wrong) when I have these repeated, identical experiences with dozens of different numbers? ---
**Author:** ![Alley\_Dweller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alley_dweller/32/430_2.png) [@Alley\_Dweller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alley_Dweller)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2019, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repeated-calls-from-numbers-not-in-service-what-the-hell/833057/4 "2019-04-25T22:20:08Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > I get spoofing. But what’s the end game here? That’s what’s confusing to me. What exactly is going on (or going wrong) when I have these repeated, identical experiences with dozens of different numbers? They are not hoping that you will call back later. They are hoping that you will answer the phone when they call. Since many people do not answer blocked or unknown numbers, they are using a calling number that will make it more likely that you will answer. For example, they may use a number similar to your own to make you think that a neighbor is calling. ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2019, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repeated-calls-from-numbers-not-in-service-what-the-hell/833057/5 "2019-04-25T22:22:00Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > I get spoofing. But what’s the end game here? That’s what’s confusing to me. What exactly is going on (or going wrong) when I have these repeated, identical experiences with dozens of different numbers? Could be collecting “live” numbers to sell on, or they call multiple numbers at the same time to keep their answering rate up, but have limited capacity to actually do whatever spiel they are about so hang up on some of them. ---
**Author:** ![boffking](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/858c86/32.png) [@boffking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boffking)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2019, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repeated-calls-from-numbers-not-in-service-what-the-hell/833057/6 "2019-04-25T22:25:47Z")
Is it legal for them to do this? ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2019, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repeated-calls-from-numbers-not-in-service-what-the-hell/833057/7 "2019-04-25T22:30:46Z")
> [@Alley\_Dweller](#): > > They are not hoping that you will call back later. > > They are hoping that you will answer the phone when they call. Since many people do not answer blocked or unknown numbers, they are using a calling number that will make it more likely that you will answer. For example, they may use a number similar to your own to make you think that a neighbor is calling. But I’ve answered probably a dozen of these calls and they always follow the EXACT same pattern: I’ll answer with ‘hello’ and be met with about 5 seconds of silence (never more never less) followed by disconnection. WHY do they want me to answer? > [@naita](#): > > Could be collecting “live” numbers to sell on, or they call multiple numbers at the same time to keep their answering rate up, but have limited capacity to actually do whatever spiel they are about so hang up on some of them. See my response above. Ive never received any spiel. Not once. Ive never heard another human voice even once. Ive never heard a sound at all even once. Given how many times this has happened, I would think I would have connected to someone by now if there actually WAS a spiel involved somehow. But this could be… Re “live” numbers, why would you need someone to answer in order to discern if it was active? ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2019, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repeated-calls-from-numbers-not-in-service-what-the-hell/833057/8 "2019-04-25T22:41:14Z")
It sounds like they are collecting “live” numbers. This sort of behavior is why I don’t answer my phone anymore. ---
**Author:** ![x-ray\_vision](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/x-ray_vision/32/351_2.png) [@x-ray\_vision](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/x-ray_vision)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2019, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repeated-calls-from-numbers-not-in-service-what-the-hell/833057/9 "2019-04-25T22:44:55Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > WHY do they want me to answer? > > … > Re “live” numbers, why would you need someone to answer in order to discern if it was active? > [@](#): > > It turns out there could be someone on the other end of the line: an automated computer system that’s calling your number — and tens of thousands of others — to build a list of humans to target for theft. > > … > > That initial call you get, with silence on the other end, “[is] essentially the first of the reconnaissance calls that these fraudsters do,” Balasubramaniyan says. “They’re trying to see: Are they getting a human on the other end? You even cough and it knows you’re there.” > **[Why Phone Fraud Starts With A Silent Call](https://www.npr.org/sections/alltechconsidered/2015/08/24/434313813/why-phone-fraud-starts-with-a-silent-call)** > > When you answer your phone and there's no one on the other end, it could in fact be a computer that's gathering information about you and your bank account. Here's how. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2019, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repeated-calls-from-numbers-not-in-service-what-the-hell/833057/10 "2019-04-25T22:55:01Z")
> [@naita](#): > > Could be collecting “live” numbers to sell on > [@Sunny\_Daze](#): > > It sounds like they are collecting “live” numbers. This sort of behavior is why I don’t answer my phone anymore. > [@x-ray\_vision](#): > > [Why Phone Fraud Starts With A Silent Call : All Tech Considered : NPR](https://www.npr.org/sections/alltechconsidered/2015/08/24/434313813/why-phone-fraud-starts-with-a-silent-call) Looks like this is the answer. Thanks guys. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2019, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repeated-calls-from-numbers-not-in-service-what-the-hell/833057/11 "2019-04-25T22:58:12Z")
I’ve had a really bizarre experience. I wonder if it’s related. I frequently placed calls from Thailand to someone in California, but that person passed away several months ago. A few months after the death, that California number called me in Thailand! I answered; they hung up at once; I called back and got an answering machine, with the dead person’s voice. Spooky. On inquiry I learned that the physical phone, a wireless set connected to land-line, had been thrown into a dumpster. It was suggested that any memorized numbers would have been erased. Then, just last week I got another call from that number; they hung up immediately after my ‘Hello.’ I called back and got an ‘Out of service’ message. What’s happening? ---
**Author:** ![slash2k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@slash2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slash2k)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2019, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repeated-calls-from-numbers-not-in-service-what-the-hell/833057/12 "2019-04-25T22:58:17Z")
> [@boffking](#): > > Is it legal for them to do this? No, caller ID spoofing is (generally) illegal in the United States, under the [Truth in Caller ID Act](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truth_in_Caller_ID_Act_of_2009) and the FCC regulations promulgated thereunder. There are some limited exceptions but transmitting misleading or inaccurate caller ID information with the intent to defraud or cause harm is punishable by fines and forfeitures. There are a bunch of other telemarketer regulations that are also being violated here, such as the use of automated dialers under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. However, the people doing the calling are very likely outside the United States and beyond the reach of US law enforcement, so they really don’t care. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2019, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repeated-calls-from-numbers-not-in-service-what-the-hell/833057/13 "2019-04-25T23:22:24Z")
The other possibility is just that it’s a scammer or telemarketer with a poor quality autodialer or poor operational procedures. These are systems that automatically place calls at random or from lists and connect the telemarketer only when an actual human voice is detected. Even legitimate systems sometimes exhibit long pauses before the agent comes online; the ones scammers use may be a lot more problematic, or their procedures badly managed. ---
**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2019, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repeated-calls-from-numbers-not-in-service-what-the-hell/833057/14 "2019-04-26T00:08:03Z")
I get those stupid spoofed calls ALL THE TIME, with my area code and exchange to try to make me think it’s someone local. Thing is, it’s a cell phone and when I got this number originally it was in a number range that belonged to T-Mobile and number porting was not yet invented, so trying to make me believe someone I know that has T-Mobile AND the area/exchange I got assigned twelve years ago is calling me out of the blue beggars belief. So I use the Truecaller app, which displays whether or not other users have blocked it as a spam number, then I reject the call and if there’s no voicemail left I block it automatically–I’ll listen to the voicemail but it’s almost always silence so they get blocked anyway. Funny thing, I found out MY number is being used as a spoof too since I got two calls with voicemail from different numbers/same exchange asking why I called them. So I blocked them too, they’re obviously clueless as well as being nobody I know. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2019, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repeated-calls-from-numbers-not-in-service-what-the-hell/833057/15 "2019-04-26T00:13:48Z")
yeah sometimes it takes a minute or two before you hear a “boomp” that connects you to someone line …sometimes its juts crappy programs that don’t work and the like almost all the telemarketing these days are done on “burner” disposable phones that way if you do block a number there’s a new one next week and pressing 9 for the do not call list is just there for legal reasons most places don’t keep a list even if they’re supposed to ---
**Author:** ![x-ray\_vision](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/x-ray_vision/32/351_2.png) [@x-ray\_vision](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/x-ray_vision)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2019, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repeated-calls-from-numbers-not-in-service-what-the-hell/833057/16 "2019-04-26T00:48:12Z")
> [@slash2k](#): > > No, caller ID spoofing is (generally) illegal in the United States, under the [Truth in Caller ID Act](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truth_in_Caller_ID_Act_of_2009) and the FCC regulations promulgated thereunder. There are some limited exceptions but transmitting misleading or inaccurate caller ID information with the intent to defraud or cause harm is punishable by fines and forfeitures. It’s probably true that it’s most frequently used for illegal activity, but I wouldn’t call caller ID spoofing “(generally) illegal” when spoofing is only illegal when done “with the intent to defraud, cause harm, or wrongfully obtain anything of value.” I’d instead define it as generally legal, unless done with the intent to defraud, cause harm, or wrongfully obtain anything of value. > [@](#): > > There are a bunch of other telemarketer regulations that are also being violated here, such as the use of automated dialers under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. However, the people doing the calling are very likely outside the United States and beyond the reach of US law enforcement, so they really don’t care. If they acquired the numbers the way we are guessing was done to the OP, that doesn’t count as use of an automated dialer. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2019, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repeated-calls-from-numbers-not-in-service-what-the-hell/833057/17 "2019-04-26T03:16:20Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > Over the past 6 months or so, I have been having a bizarre, inexplicable recurring issue with my phone. I keep getting calls from numbers that are not in service. Most of the time, since i usually keep my phone on silent, I will miss these calls and discover they aren’t in service when i attempt to call them back. I do wonder why you are calling back numbers when you don’t know who called and they didn’t leave a message. I get these all the time and never call back. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2019, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repeated-calls-from-numbers-not-in-service-what-the-hell/833057/18 "2019-04-26T03:22:43Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > I do wonder why you are calling back numbers when you don’t know who called and they didn’t leave a message. I get these all the time and never call back. Curiosity. ---
**Author:** ![slash2k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@slash2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slash2k)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2019, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repeated-calls-from-numbers-not-in-service-what-the-hell/833057/19 "2019-04-26T03:39:44Z")
> [@x-ray\_vision](#): > > If they acquired the numbers the way we are guessing was done to the OP, that doesn’t count as use of an automated dialer. I’m guessing that the callers are ringing every possible telephone number in OP’s exchange, either in an effort to determine which ones are “live” or simply to see who’ll answer and be gullible. That does very likely involve an automated dialer. I see nothing to indicate that OP has been pre-selected to receive the call, and certainly nothing to suggest they’re dialing by hand. ---
**Author:** ![Flyer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/flyer/32/7298_2.png) [@Flyer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flyer)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2019, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repeated-calls-from-numbers-not-in-service-what-the-hell/833057/20 "2019-04-26T04:02:10Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > I do wonder why you are calling back numbers when you don’t know who called and they didn’t leave a message. I get these all the time and never call back. Up until the last 2 or 3 years it was quite common for people to call back when they had a missed call from an unknown number. It could be argued that that ability was one of the things that made caller ID so useful in the first place. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/repeated-calls-from-numbers-not-in-service-what-the-hell/833057.md?page=2)