Does anyone know how technology enabled this worrisome scam to be done?
Last week I got a call from a lady who buys hay from me off the field, so we haven's spoken since last July. She said she just got ripped off by the hay guy I recommended to her that morning. I said, HUH? That wasn't me on the phone; what are you talking about? And why would I recommend another hay producer?
This is how it went down: She made her annual call to me to see when I'd be haying her batch, but she forgot that I only use a landline, so she texted me. My answering machine acknowledged nothing, so I had no idea she'd tried to call.
She soon received a call that ID'd as MY number. I know you can get an app that enables you to "spoof" your number that way (first saw it demonstrated on Judge Judy 3 yrs ago), but how did this guy know she'd tried to contact me? The initial caller was a woman who pretended to be me, KNEW MY NAME, and recommended "Johnny" as a high quality hay guy. Several texts and voice calls using two other numbers were then made with "Johnny" who said he'd deliver hay right away.
He arrived at my friend's stable, saying the (much slower) hay wagon left shortly after he did. He took her $400 cash and gave her a receipt. By now, a suspicious amount of time had elapsed, so she asked for her money back until the hay got there.
He took off. A neighbor charged after him for several miles and got his license plate while my friend called the cops.
The cops immediately knew who he was, pulled his photo from the computer in their cruiser, and my friend ID'd the guy with great detail. Since then, they've done nothing other than chastise her neighbor for chasing down the guy and even saying they shouldn't have let my friend ID his photo. There's a court date, which of course the creep won't attend, and they say she'll be lucky to ever see her money again.
This is unsettling for me, especially since I was widowed last month, to know that some bastard knows my name, phone number, the fact that I'm part of the local horse community, and probably my address.
So my question is: How the hell does someone (an uneducated young guy from a very poor, high crime area) intercept a phone call, specifically a text message that didn't go through? He apparently gleaned from her message that my name is Wendy and that she was looking to buy hay. As I say, he obviously knows how to "spoof" anyone's number, but how in the world did he intercept a call made by someone he doesn't know??
Last week I got a call from a lady who buys hay from me off the field, so we haven's spoken since last July. She said she just got ripped off by the hay guy I recommended to her that morning. I said, HUH? That wasn't me on the phone; what are you talking about? And why would I recommend another hay producer?
This is how it went down: She made her annual call to me to see when I'd be haying her batch, but she forgot that I only use a landline, so she texted me. My answering machine acknowledged nothing, so I had no idea she'd tried to call.
She soon received a call that ID'd as MY number. I know you can get an app that enables you to "spoof" your number that way (first saw it demonstrated on Judge Judy 3 yrs ago), but how did this guy know she'd tried to contact me? The initial caller was a woman who pretended to be me, KNEW MY NAME, and recommended "Johnny" as a high quality hay guy. Several texts and voice calls using two other numbers were then made with "Johnny" who said he'd deliver hay right away.
He arrived at my friend's stable, saying the (much slower) hay wagon left shortly after he did. He took her $400 cash and gave her a receipt. By now, a suspicious amount of time had elapsed, so she asked for her money back until the hay got there.
He took off. A neighbor charged after him for several miles and got his license plate while my friend called the cops.
The cops immediately knew who he was, pulled his photo from the computer in their cruiser, and my friend ID'd the guy with great detail. Since then, they've done nothing other than chastise her neighbor for chasing down the guy and even saying they shouldn't have let my friend ID his photo. There's a court date, which of course the creep won't attend, and they say she'll be lucky to ever see her money again.
This is unsettling for me, especially since I was widowed last month, to know that some bastard knows my name, phone number, the fact that I'm part of the local horse community, and probably my address.
So my question is: How the hell does someone (an uneducated young guy from a very poor, high crime area) intercept a phone call, specifically a text message that didn't go through? He apparently gleaned from her message that my name is Wendy and that she was looking to buy hay. As I say, he obviously knows how to "spoof" anyone's number, but how in the world did he intercept a call made by someone he doesn't know??
ray:
