Woman gets 917 calls after hackers spoof her phone number
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- A northwest Harris County woman has been inundated with hundreds of calls after she believes her cell phone number was spoofed.
Kim, whose last name ABC13 Eyewitness News is not using due to privacy concerns, has received 917 calls since last Thursday.
She said she has not answered most of them, but many people have left voicemails and some are not very nice.
"Please don't call me back because if you do, I will file suit on your (expletive)," one man said in a voicemail.
Kim said most are 'disturbing' and 'upsetting.'
Kim eventually realized her number has been spoofed. Someone was using it to call hundreds of people, likely phishing for personal information.
She said her phone carrier, Sprint, told her to file a complaint with the FCC, which she has done.
The only way to end the harassment, she learned, is to change her number. It's the only number she's ever had.
"I don't want to do that," she said.
Instead, she has changed her outgoing message telling people her number has been spoofed and that she did not call them.
The FCC says to avoid being a victim, never answer a call from a number you don't know.
Kim said she plans to ride it out. The FCC says hackers will eventually move on, but Kim was hoping for real action.
"Maybe it should be illegal and maybe phone companies can come up with ways to protect their customers so they don't have to change their number," she said.
For more information on spoofing and how to avoid it, visit the FCC website.
