# Robocall from my own phone number **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 24, 2014, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robocall-from-my-own-phone-number/693907 "2014-07-24T04:00:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![PurpleClogs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f04885/32.png) [@PurpleClogs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PurpleClogs)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2014, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robocall-from-my-own-phone-number/693907/1 "2014-07-24T04:00:15Z")
I got the strangest call today. It was the robocall woman about my credit card that I get about once a week. (Yes we registered with the do not call list but can’t escape this one) But this time the caller ID showed my own name and home phone number! I did a double take, was confused, but let it go to voicemail. For a moment I thought, is it my hubby calling on his cell from work? Can’t be. Unless he changed his caller ID info. But why would it have our home number? It’s impossible to call your own number. It was disorienting until I heard the familiar woman about the credit card and recognized, aha! They’re really getting clever now! Just now I did a Google and it turns out the BBB is getting lots of reports of this happening over the last month or so. Sneaky bastards! ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2014, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robocall-from-my-own-phone-number/693907/2 "2014-07-24T04:06:17Z")
They really need to make things like this Capital crimes. With swift, public executions. ---
**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:** [July 24, 2014, 9:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robocall-from-my-own-phone-number/693907/3 "2014-07-24T09:31:33Z")
This should really go in The Pit, where we can really let fly with our uncensored commentary! Called ID can be spoofed, so they can make it show any bogus number they want. They might as well make it show the number they are calling. Interesting that they get it to show your name too. That means they aren’t just dialing number entirely blindly – they know who you are! That’s creepy. The biggest Pit-worthy flame I would wish to write (and in fact have written on this board before) is for the esteemed gentlepersons who designed the Called ID protocol, for designing a protocol where the caller can inject whatever text he wants into the Caller ID data stream. This is exactly the same major blunder as the early designers of e-mail committed when they made it possible for any e-mail originator to insert anything he wants into the “From:” field. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2014, 9:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robocall-from-my-own-phone-number/693907/4 "2014-07-24T09:34:03Z")
She’s inside your house! :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2014, 10:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robocall-from-my-own-phone-number/693907/5 "2014-07-24T10:08:49Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > Interesting that they get it to show your name too. That means they aren’t just dialing number entirely blindly – they know who you are! That’s creepy. The name might have come from the phone company’s database, not them. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/22080_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2014, 10:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robocall-from-my-own-phone-number/693907/6 "2014-07-24T10:22:43Z")
I got a call once that just showed up as “Neighbor” with an area code not typically found on our street. Cute, huh? As if I’d be friendly enough with the folks next door to put their number on our phone, but not close enough to know their names, so I’ll just label them as “Neighbor” - yeah, that makes sense… ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2014, 10:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robocall-from-my-own-phone-number/693907/7 "2014-07-24T10:55:52Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > This should really go in The Pit, where we can really let fly with our uncensored commentary! Unless the robocaller is a board member, you can say anything about them here that you would in the Pit. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2014, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robocall-from-my-own-phone-number/693907/8 "2014-07-24T11:24:02Z")
Sometimes, I get spam e-mail from my own address. When I mark it to block, my e-mail server (NetZero) tells me I can’t block my own address. Has happened across multiple computers, and I am religious in my virus protection. I just chalk it up to yet one more intrusion of shady marketing tactics. ---
**Author:** ![PurpleClogs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f04885/32.png) [@PurpleClogs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PurpleClogs)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2014, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robocall-from-my-own-phone-number/693907/9 "2014-07-24T11:57:26Z")
And who falls for these practices this day & age anyway? How can it possibly be cost effective or efficient. Do they think after the 80th call I’m going to suddenly decide to respond? ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2014, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robocall-from-my-own-phone-number/693907/10 "2014-07-24T12:34:44Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > Called ID can be spoofed, so they can make it show any bogus number they want. A few years ago I considered purchasing an app designed to do just that. Didn’t spend the money, as I assumed the app would eventually get pulled. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2014, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robocall-from-my-own-phone-number/693907/11 "2014-07-24T13:23:17Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > They really need to make things like this Capital crimes. With swift, public executions. Public, yes. Swift, no. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![PurpleClogs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f04885/32.png) [@PurpleClogs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PurpleClogs)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2014, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robocall-from-my-own-phone-number/693907/12 "2014-07-25T04:32:08Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > Public, yes. Swift, no. > > Regards, > Shodan [They’re getting good at that now aren’t they!](http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/25/us/a-prolonged-execution-in-arizona-leads-to-a-temporary-halt.html?_r=0) ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2014, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robocall-from-my-own-phone-number/693907/13 "2014-07-25T15:09:47Z")
It’s the latest “Robocall Rachel” technique. Somebody has to find these f\*ckers and turn them over to Tig.