I received an unexpected call from a woman who said she was returning my call and wanted to know what I needed. I have never contacted her, she is not in my contacts, and there is no outgoing call to her in my phone history. Could someone be disguising their outgoing calls so they appear to come from my number? Is this something I should report to my mobile provider, and do I need to change my number?
2 Answers
This is most likely caller ID spoofing. Scammers can make a call appear to come from almost any number, including yours, so the recipient calls back thinking you contacted them. It does not usually mean your phone or account has been hacked, and changing your number generally will not help. If it keeps happening, report the pattern to your provider and avoid confirming personal details to anyone who calls back.
A small number of mistaken callbacks can happen when someone spoofs your number during spam campaigns. Keep an eye on your call history and account for anything unusual, but if there are no unexplained outgoing calls, texts, or account changes, there is usually nothing you need to fix on the phone itself.
So my number itself probably is not compromised? I was worried someone had access to my phone.