My teenage son has used the same iPhone and phone number for years. A detective recently came to our home because someone has been making harassing calls from several numbers, including my son's number. However, the voicemail recordings are not his voice. The detective also said the phone company's records connect the number to an unfamiliar woman's name and address. We later recognised the details as belonging to the mother of one of his friends, although we have no idea why. The account information visible in our carrier app still shows our details. Could someone be spoofing his number, using another SIM linked to it, or has the carrier's information been confused? What should we do to protect his account and clarify this with the police and phone company?
3 Answers
Do not confront the other family directly. Keep the detective updated, preserve the voicemail files and call logs, and write down when the data usage changed and who told you what. The carrier—not friends or an online commenter—can confirm which customer account, SIM, and device activity were actually associated with the number at the relevant times. Also check the iPhone for call forwarding, unknown profiles, unfamiliar apps, and changes to the Apple Account password.
Caller ID spoofing is definitely possible, and it can make calls appear to come from your son’s number even when they were placed elsewhere. That would explain the unfamiliar voice and outgoing calls, but it would not normally change who legally owns the number. Ask the detective and carrier to distinguish between the displayed caller ID and the actual account or SIM activity.
Contact the phone company through its official customer-service channel and ask for a fraud or account-security review. Explain that police are investigating suspected harassment and ask them to check for unauthorised SIM swaps, duplicate SIMs, recent account changes, call forwarding, and unusual data usage. Change the account password and PIN, add extra security, and ask whether the number should be moved to a replacement SIM or temporarily changed.
The period when the phone suddenly used much more data could be relevant, although it could also have an ordinary explanation. Ask the carrier for historical usage and a list of SIM or account changes rather than relying only on the app.
That makes sense for the calls, but I’m still confused about why the carrier search returned someone else’s name and address. Our online account only shows our details.