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Mobile / Cell Phone Weirdness

Perhaps it's checking for, and downloading software or firmware? Lots of appliances switch themselves on for brief periods in the small hours to check for updates (my cable and freeview TV boxes, for example, and my old LG phone, suddenly burst into life from standby at about 3.00 a.m. for a few minutes.)
 
A most peculiar phonecall

This is puzzling, but if anyone could provide a rational explanation, I'd be relieved to hear it.

I checked my mobile phone this afternoon and I found a missed call, which was made at 14.02, from another mobile phone number which I didn't recognise. I called this number, by simply selecting the number, i.e., I didn't redial it manually. I spoke to a woman, who said, "Hello, Clare?!" I told her that her number had appeared on my phone as a missed call, and she said that she was puzzled because she hadn't made any calls that afternoon, and didn't know anyone called with my first name. She told me that my name had appeared on her phone as "Clare O", which is odd because I've never registered my SIM, or my number, and she doesn't know anyone called Clare. My last name doesn't begin with the letter 'O' anyway.

She asked me what my full name was, and where I was calling from, and she was still none the wiser when I told her. She told me she was in London, and gave me her full name, and I'd never heard of her either! We were both baffled!

I never lend anyone my phone, and it never leaves my sight unless I'm recharging it, which is why I left it in the house this afternoon. Incidentally, the house was empty.

How could this have happened?

The only logical explanation which comes to mind is that the call was from someone's paranoid wife, or girlfriend who is sneakily going through her bloke's phone, and is calling all the women listed therein! I've got one of those unpersonalised automated voicemail facilities set up, so it's possible that the woman with whom I spoke might have wanted me to call her so that she could do some digging. Is this likely ...? I don't know.

If anyone has any ideas, I'd love to hear from you. Many thanks!
 
Re: A most peculiar phonecall

zephyras1 said:
The only logical explanation which comes to mind is that the call was from someone's paranoid wife, or girlfriend who is sneakily going through her bloke's phone, and is calling all the women listed therein!
Sounds like you might be onto something... Or maybe random/crank calling/bored people having fun at the expense of your phonebill.

Personally I wouldnt give my full name or any personal details out to an unsolicited caller, especially not when they can see your number.

Theres also the rather new social phenomenon of blue-bugging/blue-jacking where an in-the-know phone hacker can tap into mobile phones within bluetooth range if an unsuspecting phone user has left bluetooth running without setting up the security features. This can lead to address book copying and so on...
 
Thanks for your reply.

Yes, it could have been a random call, and purely coincidental that she had guessed my first name. If it was a crank call, I have her number, and a very mischievous sense of humour ...

I don't know if anyone would have the wherewithal to hack into my phone, it's about four years old.
 
Just for the record, bluejacking is not the same as hacking into someone's phone, more it's a mischevious way of sending a message to a phone - see http://www.bluejackq.com/what-is-bluejacking.shtml

bluetooth can, I believe, be used to hack into unsecured phones, but bluejacking is something entirely different. It's definitely not meant in a harmful way.

As to zephyras1's mobile strangeness, I have no idea how it happened but can say that I have had something which may be along the same lines.

When I visit Edinburgh, I somehow start getting calls to my mobile number from other people around Scotland.
These callers' numbers are not in my phone book, and when I answer, they usually sound confused that the person they dialled hasn't answered, and ask to speak to them.

These people all insist they've dialled the correct number (not the same one as mine, or even close at all) and I don't think I've ever had the same person call more than once.

This continues for the duration of my stay and for a few weeks after I return home, after which it stops as mysteriously as it started.

The people who call have, on occasion, accused me of stealing their friend's mobile, as they absolutely insist they've dialled their friend's number and not my own.

My mobile operator says that the entire situation is impossible and cannot happen under any circumstances, and yet it has occured twice, about 18 months apart.
It's only ever happened with Edinburgh though.

My own suspicion is that there's just something screwy going on with the mobile network
 
I think I've mentioned this on this forum before but on two occassions I have been stting at home when my mobile phone (lying in the room I was in), spontaneously, by itself, rang my home phone number, (handset in the room I was in). When I picked up the phone and said "Hullo" I had the weird experince of hearing my own voice say exactly what I was saying at the same time through both phones.
 
zephyras1 said:
I don't know if anyone would have the wherewithal to hack into my phone, it's about four years old.
It may not have been your phone that was hacked - think of how many other peoples phones have your name and number in them. Does someone know you as Clare-O for some reason? Maybe there's a Clare-1 and a Clare-2 out there.

But I like your jealous girlfriend solution, because that makes total sense.
 
When I visit Edinburgh, I somehow start getting calls to my mobile number from other people around Scotland.
These callers' numbers are not in my phone book, and when I answer, they usually sound confused that the person they dialled hasn't answered, and ask to speak to them.

These people all insist they've dialled the correct number (not the same one as mine, or even close at all) and I don't think I've ever had the same person call more than once.

This continues for the duration of my stay and for a few weeks after I return home, after which it stops as mysteriously as it started.

The people who call have, on occasion, accused me of stealing their friend's mobile, as they absolutely insist they've dialled their friend's number and not my own.

My mobile operator says that the entire situation is impossible and cannot happen under any circumstances, and yet it has occured twice, about 18 months apart.
It's only ever happened with Edinburgh though.

My own suspicion is that there's just something screwy going on with the mobile network

That is very odd indeed!
 
It may not have been your phone that was hacked - think of how many other peoples phones have your name and number in them. Does someone know you as Clare-O for some reason? Maybe there's a Clare-1 and a Clare-2 out there.


If the caller (who claims she didn't call) was using a recycled phone, that would explain why my name appeared on hers (I don't receive missed call messages via the text message facility). That, combined with network gremlins is the most plausible explanation. Wonder what causes the gremlins ...?
 
plusk said:
I think I've mentioned this on this forum before but on two occassions I have been stting at home when my mobile phone (lying in the room I was in), spontaneously, by itself, rang my home phone number, (handset in the room I was in). When I picked up the phone and said "Hullo" I had the weird experince of hearing my own voice say exactly what I was saying at the same time through both phones.


Whoa....

That is kinda freaky...
 
Not really the same thing but related, a few years ago, on my previous mobile I'd regularly get some mad Scottish woman ringing me.

She'd do this once or twice a week and normally say "Is Susie there?"
The first couple of times I said sorry you must have a wrong number, she'd recount the number she was after and yes it matched mine.
After a while she started to get shirty and asked whether I'd bought this phone from Susie and where is she? I replied and said sorry I got it new, I've never been to Scotland and no I don't know who Susie is.

The insane old bag wouldn't believe me and carried on calling me for a few months, she must have either found Susie or just given up after a while as she stopped calling me eventually.

Back to the thread, I've had that thing happen where you pick up the phone and all you can hear is your own voice and yes it sounds really strange.
 
Oh Zoltan M8, how very kind and patient you are. I'd have come up with a much more, shall we say, creative response to those call. :twisted:
 
They also recycle numbers. In the past there was a long waiting period before they would "reuse" a number, but now i think when it is changed it is immediately reassigned. My sister got a number mind you this was a "home" number but she kept getting collect calls from the state prison over and over and over from the same guy. I myself have also been victim of the recycled number. The last three times i changed my phone i immediately got tons of calls for other people. it took months for it to stop.
 
plusk said:
I think I've mentioned this on this forum before but on two occassions I have been stting at home when my mobile phone (lying in the room I was in), spontaneously, by itself, rang my home phone number, (handset in the room I was in). When I picked up the phone and said "Hullo" I had the weird experince of hearing my own voice say exactly what I was saying at the same time through both phones.

Could some kind of call forwarding service be the culprit here? I'm not sure how it works but something similar happened to my sister twice. She got a new phone from a new mobile provider. When it was called her residential line started ringing instead. She called the phone company, they claimed that call forwarding was the problem and they gave her instructions to fix it. What I find disturbing is that the company admitted that they were responsible for the forwarding - but how did they know her residential line? They do not provide her landline service. Seems to me that they have access to her contact numbers and their details as well.
I assume your home number is on your mobile contacts list. Perhaps someone tried to call your mobile and some imperfect forwarding occurred. I'd call my service provider if I were you.
 
Hi Glamour,

This was a couple of years ago and hasn't happened since.

Interestingly enough I learned from a policeman mate the other day that every call you make from a mobile is recorded forever not only on your SIM card but on equipment in the handset. So if someone gets hold of your handset and they know how to,they can reconstruct every person you have ever rung.
 
I find that very unlikely, as it means the phone would have to have an infinite memory capacity, which of course it doesn't.
 
Just finished reading all the entries here, thinking nothing that cannot be explained has ever happened to me phone wise, and I picked up my mobile from where it was laying on my desk. On the display it was asking me to set the time & date as it did the very first time I turned it on when it was new 18 months ago.
I never turn my phone off, even when charging which I do about twice a week when it gets down to 2 bars.
in fact, i doubt if it has ever been turned off since I had it.

Obviously there must be a good reason for this to have happend.......... but right now?

:shock:
 
What exactly is a 'gibbed' demon?

A couple of weeks ago, me and my friend were talking about Supernatural happenings. After an hour of talking about things, I got a text message come through from a number that I didn't know. So when I looked, all it said was, "gibbed demon." So, I called the number, but apparently the number it came from didn't exist. Anyway, after searching on the internet, I still can't find out what a 'gibbed demon' actually is.

Does anyone know what it is? If so, could you let me know?

Thanks for any help!
 
I bet it´s got something to do with The Bee-Gees. Perhaps the demon they sold their souls to for being able to hit those high notes.
 
Xanatico said:
I bet it´s got something to do with The Bee-Gees. Perhaps the demon they sold their souls to for being able to hit those high notes.

Possibly.
But no.
:lol:
 
Its not a scam is it? I mean you did call back, but then again they would try and keep you on wouldn't they [whoever they are :roll: ]? Its interesting.
 
Here's a rum'un.

Long story short: my iPhone has spontaneously changed the number of one of my contacts and I found myself ringing an unknown Glaswegian.

Details:

When I had a new iPhone I kept the old one because, well, I couldn't bear to be parted from it. It's on a different network from the new one so my excuse is that I'll always have coverage and can use it as a backup and at the gym, etc...

So I ring one from the other when I misplace one and send texts between them, if I want to forward a text on to someone I don't want to have my 'real' number, and so on, so they are in regular touch.

Just now I tried ringing the old one from the new one as I'd dropped it down the bed somewhere, and my new phone said it rang but I couldn't hear it.
Eventually found it and noticed that it had no missed calls.

Tried ringing it again with both phones side by side and again I heard the ringing at the new phone's end but the old one didn't ring. Instead, a heavily-accented man answered it! I hung up quickly.

Checked the number stored for the old phone on the new, and one digit was different.

As I did this, the new phone rang, from what I've found out is a Glasgow (Scotland) landline. I didn't answer!

So... how did the number get changed? The phones are in touch with each other and I haven't 'lost' any texts. I certainly haven't edited the number myself and nobody else has access to the phone.

Baffled. o_O
 
Last edited:
Hacked remotely?
 
I can't seem to find a more appropriate thread for this ... The unintended consequences make it weird, and it involves a mobile / cell phone ...

Polish stork vanishes from GPS but delivers huge phone bill

A Polish environmental group that was using a mobile-phone transmitter to track migratory movements of a stork has received a phone bill of 10,000 zlotys ($2,650) after the bird went missing in Sudan and someone started using the chip to make calls.

Like many other storks who nest in Poland in the summer, Kajtek, an adult stork, began his southward migration to Africa in August 2017. Thanks to a SIM-chip transmitter, the Ecological Group was able to track his GPS movements and post details about the journey online .

The bird’s last signal came from Sudan on April 26. But later, the group heard that some 20 hours of calls had been made using the SIM card in Sudan.

Ireneusz Kaluga, the association’s head, said Friday that Kajtek “probably isn’t alive.” ...

SOURCE: https://apnews.com/4b8b7717b1cf4159...anishes-from-GPS-but-delivers-huge-phone-bill
 
A minor curio that seems relevant to resurrecting this thread:

I picked my phone up the other day to discover that a photo had been opened on it of a dog - a small Yorkshire terrier, for reference, and not one that I had any photos stored of. I closed the photo, assuming that I'd knocked it and opened it accidentally from the page I was on, but then I realised that I had no pages open that it had come from. The phone had only been out of my hand for less than a minute, and I have no idea where this mysterious dog picture had come from.
 
a small Yorkshire terrier, for reference, and not one that I had any photos stored of
It seems to surprise even experienced mobile device users, but: if you have almost any form of social media application software which includes a personal messaging function and you have left the Message Push/Accept settings at default, and especially if you are (or still are, or ever have been) a member of any generated group discussion/ multi-party conversation via eg WhatsApp or Instagram or third-party Facebook Message Reader utility apps etc; then this is an inevitable conduit for unsolicited images or other unwanted digital content on a random reception basis.

It just appears, unbidden, within your personal file structure (AndroidOS devices especially), and can then be auto-highlit via the background process monitor summary as a hey-presto popup (the phone is trying to help you). Consider reading the embedded EXIF data of the mystery picture (obtainable via eg Google Play Store, for a utility app) and it may give you a meaningful clue as to the originator either by name/date or location.
 
My phone rang about ten minutes ago. It didn't let me answer the call and kept ringing until I switched the phone off. I rang 1471 to find the number that rang me and got a message saying "I'm sorry. The system's busy, please try again later'.
Very strange.
 
Heard this yesterday, in an informal group conversation at work:

The story goes that sometimes your mobile might lose signal for no apparent reason.
Before people realise that everyone in the area has the same problem it will resolve itself: say, half an hour or so.

The explanation I was given is that the police are raiding a property in the area and will have the nearest phone mast closed down to stop suspects warning each other.

Dunno, but it's a great yarn. :bthumbup:
 
Dunno, but it's a great yarn
Close, but no cigar (is that still an approved expression in the 21st Century?)...in some parts of the world, the targetted premises cellular isolation is actually performed by using a local raw jamming source.

This can be done as a block/brute force signal across the whole of the mobile phone spectrum (thus covering all service providers)...it's a favourite approach in China and India/Pakistan.

Alternatively, it can be performed much more subtlely: by the automated spoofing of real cell-sites (by mirroring multiple service providers, or the appearance thereof) by a local strong signal source honeypot...which has no actual call receive/send capabilities.

Mobile phones/tablets will always affiliate to the strongest signal that approves them as a recognised customer. This flypaper-trap-in-a-van makes all suspects' phones within a tiny definable radius imperceptably deaf & voiceless (whilst leaving innocent citizens two doors along or one village away, entirely-unaffected).

Obviously such an approach can also be done in an even more targeted fashion, by ensuring that specific users/numbers/SIM cards are also completely- isolated at public network level...but not showing any sign to the user that they are in that zombied state ('five bars & useless'). This type of method has been happening extensively in Eastern Europe, and in all sorts of other conflict zones for many years (allegedly).
 
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