# Strange voicemail message: what was the caller's motivation? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 8, 2019, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-voicemail-message-what-was-the-callers-motivation/829190 "2019-02-08T19:07:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2019, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-voicemail-message-what-was-the-callers-motivation/829190/1 "2019-02-08T19:07:50Z")
A couple of days ago, I got a call on my phone from the area code of the city where I grew up. The message went something like this: “Hello, **Ponch8** (using my actual name). My name is so-and-so. I used to work with your deceased grandfather (giving his real name–entirely plausible, because he also lived in the same city I did). I also knew your deceased grandmother (again giving her real name). I just wanted to chat with you and share some information I have about your grandfather. Give me a call back.” Yesterday, I got around to calling back. The same woman answered. I said, “is this so-and-so?” She said yes. I said I was sorry to miss her call the previous day but that I got her message and was now free to talk. She said, “I didn’t leave you any message,” and quickly hung up. Even more mysteriously, I then googled the name that the woman gave, and I found out that this woman died in 2017! Any idea what this could be about? Some sort of scam? If there had been an actual scam, I don’t think they’d hang up on me, but instead would try to get as much information out of me as possible. ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2019, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-voicemail-message-what-was-the-callers-motivation/829190/2 "2019-02-08T19:15:58Z")
Adding that this was a fairly small city, and the woman had a name that wasn’t very common. The obituary clearly states that the woman lived in the same city as me and my grandparents. Also, the woman’s obituary does not mention having any daughters or other relatives with the same first name as her. Therefore, the mystery caller likely wasn’t a family member who happened to have the same name as the dead lady. ---
**Author:** ![Sarabellum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarabellum/32/3492_2.png) [@Sarabellum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarabellum)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2019, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-voicemail-message-what-was-the-callers-motivation/829190/3 "2019-02-08T19:53:11Z")
Possible identity theft scheme? Possible long-lost relative? ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2019, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-voicemail-message-what-was-the-callers-motivation/829190/4 "2019-02-08T20:51:01Z")
How old was she? Could she have memory issues? Perhaps she finally made some link between your grandparents and you but 10 minutes after leaving the message she forgot she did it. Except that doesn’t explain her being dead. If you wanted to push it a little further, between the obit listing her relatives and facebook, you can probably find someone close to her and send them a message. They might be able to explain what’s going on. ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Gay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3ab097/32.png) [@Enola\_Gay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Gay)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2019, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-voicemail-message-what-was-the-callers-motivation/829190/5 "2019-02-08T21:23:38Z")
Can you do a reverse phone# search and find out the identity of the caller? ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2019, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-voicemail-message-what-was-the-callers-motivation/829190/6 "2019-02-08T22:10:53Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > How old was she? Could she have memory issues? Perhaps she finally made some link between your grandparents and you but 10 minutes after leaving the message she forgot she did it. > > Except that doesn’t explain her being dead. > If you wanted to push it a little further, between the obit listing her relatives and facebook, you can probably find someone close to her and send them a message. They might be able to explain what’s going on. I couldn’t tell how old the person was by her voice, but she didn’t sound all that old and desiccated. I dropped facebook last year, so I won’t be able to message anyone. > [@Enola\_Gay](#): > > Can you do a reverse phone# search and find out the identity of the caller? I did that, and got the name of a man whose name does not appear in the obituary. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2019, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-voicemail-message-what-was-the-callers-motivation/829190/7 "2019-02-08T22:35:13Z")
The only thing I can think of is some sort of confirmation that you were their grandson, for pretexting reasons, or maybe to confirm “mother’s maiden name." ---
**Author:** ![Littleman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ccd318/32.png) [@Littleman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Littleman)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2019, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-voicemail-message-what-was-the-callers-motivation/829190/8 "2019-02-08T22:41:41Z")
Since were left to speculate any possible theory; Well call the dead lady Irene. Irenes daughter suspects she’s actually your grandfathers child. One day she wants to make a connection, then decides it’s a bad idea. Alternatively, she was having a conversation with someone and was told no , they didn’t have a grandson or his name was something else, called just to prove she was right. By the time you called back the argument had been settled. In any case, the message leaver could have been one daughter and the person who answered was their daughter or sister and they had no idea the message was left. Especially since you couldn’t give an age range, I would be suspect of your own judgement that it was the same person ---
**Author:** ![Littleman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ccd318/32.png) [@Littleman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Littleman)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2019, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-voicemail-message-what-was-the-callers-motivation/829190/9 "2019-02-08T22:45:30Z")
Oops, you said she answered to the same name ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2019, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-voicemail-message-what-was-the-callers-motivation/829190/10 "2019-02-08T23:05:00Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > The only thing I can think of is some sort of confirmation that you were their grandson, for pretexting reasons, or maybe to confirm “mother’s maiden name." Possible, but the message was about my paternal grandfather, so he had the same last name that I do. > [@Littleman](#): > > Since were left to speculate any possible theory; > > Well call the dead lady Irene. > Irenes daughter suspects she’s actually your grandfathers child. One day she wants to make a connection, then decides it’s a bad idea. > Alternatively, she was having a conversation with someone and was told no , they didn’t have a grandson or his name was something else, called just to prove she was right. By the time you called back the argument had been settled. > > In any case, the message leaver could have been one daughter and the person who answered was their daughter or sister and they had no idea the message was left. > Especially since you couldn’t give an age range, I would be suspect of your own judgement that it was the same person It’s possible the person who answered my call was not the same person who left the message, despite the fact she said she was. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2019, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-voicemail-message-what-was-the-callers-motivation/829190/11 "2019-02-08T23:17:48Z")
Call back again, see if someone different answers. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2019, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-voicemail-message-what-was-the-callers-motivation/829190/12 "2019-02-09T01:42:05Z")
Someone pretending to be her with a similar voice, using information pulled from an obituary or other sources, spoofing the number? But when you called, there was someone else in the room so she couldn’t run her scam? ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2019, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-voicemail-message-what-was-the-callers-motivation/829190/13 "2019-02-09T11:58:32Z")
> [@Ponch8](#): > > I just wanted to chat with you and share some information I have about your grandfather. Give me a call back. > [@susan](#): > > Someone pretending to be her with a similar voice, using information pulled from an obituary or other sources, spoofing the number? But when you called, there was someone else in the room so she couldn’t run her scam? Or it could be the same person, and the “information” was regarding the grandfather and another person, who happened to unexpectedly be in the room at the time of the call so the callee had to make up a quick story to not let on that they knew! ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2019, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-voicemail-message-what-was-the-callers-motivation/829190/14 "2019-02-09T13:12:49Z")
> [@susan](#): > > But when you called, there was someone else in the room so she couldn’t run her scam? I’d say “another person in the room” seems plausible. But not a scam. She just panicked and didn’t want to talk openly with someone else there and her response was the first thing her frightened brain came up with. If she really does want to make contact, she’ll call back But this assumes the message leaver and her are the same person. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2019, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-voicemail-message-what-was-the-callers-motivation/829190/15 "2019-02-09T15:15:44Z")
> [@Ponch8](#): > > It’s possible the person who answered my call was not the same person who left the message, despite the fact she said she was. Except she didn’t say she was the same person who left the message, she said she was so-and-so. There’s a chance the message was left by someone else claiming to be so-and-so. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2019, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-voicemail-message-what-was-the-callers-motivation/829190/16 "2019-02-09T15:42:03Z")
A while back, there was a warning about a phone scam designed to get people to say “yes” over the phone. > **[FCC warns consumers about new 'Yes' phone scam](https://abcnews.go.com/Business/fcc-warns-consumers-phone-scam/story?id=46405703)** > > The commission said scammers use recordings to authorize unwanted charges. EDIT: Sorry, I misunderstood the OP’s “is this so-and-so”/“yes” exchange to have the parties reversed. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2019, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-voicemail-message-what-was-the-callers-motivation/829190/17 "2019-02-09T19:51:12Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > A while back, there was a warning about a phone scam designed to get people to say “yes” over the phone. > > [FCC warns consumers about new 'Yes' phone scam - ABC News](https://abcnews.go.com/Business/fcc-warns-consumers-phone-scam/story?id=46405703) > EDIT: Sorry, I misunderstood the OP’s “is this so-and-so”/“yes” exchange to have the parties reversed. While not exactly debunked (it’s classified ‘unproven’), there is much reason to doubt those reports. > **['Can You Hear Me?' Scam Warning](https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/can-you-hear-me-scam/)** > > Dozens of news outlets reported on a purported scam wherein fraudsters supposedly falsify charges by randomly calling people and asking 'Can you hear me?' > [@](#): > > At first glance, the warning sounded reasonably valid: major news outlets covered it, and a Better Business Bureau satellite office reported the scam as well. But a closer examination revealed some questionable elements. > Primarily, we haven’t yet been able to identify any scenario under which a scammer could authorize charges in another person’s name simply by possessing a voice recording of that person saying “yes,” without also already possessing a good deal of personal and account information for that person, and without being able to reproduce any other form of verbal response from that person. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2019, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-voicemail-message-what-was-the-callers-motivation/829190/18 "2019-02-09T21:21:47Z")
I’ll breathe easier knowing it’s being investigated. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![txjim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f07891/32.png) [@txjim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/txjim)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2019, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-voicemail-message-what-was-the-callers-motivation/829190/19 "2019-02-09T22:28:10Z")
Was there a recent storm in your area that resulted in phone lines falling on a gravesite? Seems to me I saw a documentary on this happening in the 60s ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2019, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-voicemail-message-what-was-the-callers-motivation/829190/20 "2019-02-09T23:29:18Z")
[The Dude]This is a very complicated case. You know, a lot of ins, lot of outs, lot of what-have-you’s… [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-voicemail-message-what-was-the-callers-motivation/829190.md?page=2)