Here's something rather bizarre!!

[FlyingClayDisk]

In today's crazy cyber world we have all sorts of people going on "phishing" expeditions.  I had a pretty crazy one happen to me yesterday.

I received a call from a number 720.316.6631.  The caller ID tag was "Department".  The Area Code was correct, and local (not some flaky 800 number, or blocked number).  Didn't look suspicious (too much) so I answered it.  The call went something like this:

Me - Hello, (my name)
Her - Are you the owner of (insert big engineering company)?
Me - Can I ask what this is in regard to?
Her - This is in regard to the Airport?  Are you the owner of (big engineering firm?)
Me - No, I am not the owner.
Her - Can you please connect me with the owner?
Me - May I say who is calling and what, specifically, this is regarding?
Her - My name is Shawnda and it's regarding airport, please connect me with the owner?
Me - Well (big engineering firm) no longer exists
Her - Oh!  I'm sorry. Ummmm.  Uhhhh
Me - Good bye

So, pretty standard phishing call.  Has all the earmarks of a spear-phishing attempt, right.  But it gets WAY weirder!!

First of all, I did in fact work for (big engineering firm), and in a way I still do, but they are no longer known as (big engineering firm), but rather (bigger engineering firm).  So, technically, they don't exist, in name, but they merged with another larger company.

Secondly, this call was received on my personal cell phone.  Big problem with this.  For one thing, I didn't have this cell phone and number when I worked for that company.  And how did they ever:

• Get my personal (not company) cell phone number?, and...
  
• Connect my name to a company which no longer exists?, and...
  
• Know that I work in aviation? and...
  
• Know that (big engineering firm) had contracts at the airport?
  

Any one of these things alone is completely doable, possibly two, but all four is virtually impossible.  Not just 'sort of' impossible...ALL THE WAY impossible!

So, I decided to check this number out.  There are lots of websites you can do this with to check for scams.  Well, the number seems to have tons of reported incidents almost exactly the same.  Different caller names, but the theme is the same on every call.  The calls almost all go exactly like mine.

The bottom line is this...somebody has a massive and well funded database with a massive collection of phone numbers, names and other data...all cross-referenced with company names...all focused on one airport.  They're clearly employing a large number of people in a very targeted effort for something.  AND...they must be smart enough to know that they need to initiate these calls from a local telephone exchange which means that they probably also have multiple exchanges set up to do this from, possibly even in multiple cities.

Bizarre!

Thoughts?

[BeyondKnowledge]

That is bizarre. But remember, with current technology, it is possible to fake any phone number on caller id. They can be anywhere and seem local. There is no need to have multiple exchanges.

I have been called from a local business number after hours. I did not answer that call but around that same time I had other local id calls from out of state from tellamarketers.

[FlyingClayDisk]

That is bizarre. But remember, with current technology, it is possible to fake any phone number on caller id. They can be anywhere and seem local. There is no need to have multiple exchanges.

I have been called from a local business number after hours. I did not answer that call but around that same time I had other local id calls from out of state from tellamarketers.

My phone will show a spoofed number as "blocked".  I checked this with AT&T.  Plus, the caller ID tag is separate from the number which shows up.  Most times I don't even see the caller ID tag unless I go looking for it.  But to your point, I scanned back through my missed calls and saw this number had called me previously.  I checked the caller ID tag on that call and it said "Telemarketer". 

Just very strange they have the data to connect together like that.

[Nerb]

You should perhaps have led them along and got more info regarding the purpose of the call. After all, you have the upper hand because they called you seeking something.

[FlyingClayDisk]

You should perhaps have led them along and got more info regarding the purpose of the call. After all, you have the upper hand because they called you seeking something.

I actually did think of this (after the fact), and I called them back to do just this, but it went to an anonymous VM just stating the number and to leave a message.  It was an actual person's voice though.  I did not leave a message.

In reading some of the comments associated with reports on this number, several people have tried to do this.  They report that the caller just gets more and more evasive and ultimately just hangs up.  So, not sure I would have been able to do any better.