
Ask HN: Wrong numbers that know your first name - dec0dedab0de
In the last few months I have been getting phone calls from random people asking for me by my first name, then after I acknowledge it&#x27;s me they say a wrong last name, or company.  Then shortly after hanging up I receive a telemarketing call.<p>Has anyone encountered this pattern before? Does it have a name?  Is there a way to report it?<p>In my case I am fairly certain the company behind it is &quot;electric cloud&quot; Who I foolishly gave my information to at a conference.  I assume they are contracting out to a third party to verify the numbers they received, but the whole thing seems very shady.
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mattbgates
I know there has been an increase telemarketing and scam calls. Try searching
for your number and your name. I know Facebook asks for your number at one
point or another and I don't think they hide it unless you state otherwise.

I have a phone number from another state.. and I've since moved, well over 5
years ago.. yet I still get calls from my former state. Why would anyone be
calling me from my former state when I haven't lived there and have no
business there? I also think the robocallers are simply dialing numbers at
random. I mean.. it's not hard to generate a 10 digit phone number and just
call every single one and hope it hits.

Kind of similar to the brute force method.

A few years back, I purchased solar panels, but before I found a company I
went with, I put my phone number into a system and for months, I was getting
phone calls from robots, asking for me by name, and if I had solar panels...
and depending on my response, they would continue. If my response was
different, the voice would, "Hello? Hello? I think we almost got disconnected
there! I hope you can hear me now! Are you a homeowner? Are you ready to get
off the grid and go with solar?" Even though my response was like, "I've
already got solar..." They apparently don't understand, "no" or "not
interested."

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tonyquart
IF you know who's calling you, and they insist on calling you, why don't you
try to sue them? I just read an article that might be useful for you at
[http://www.whycall.me/news/my-4500-payday-from-a-
telemarkete...](http://www.whycall.me/news/my-4500-payday-from-a-
telemarketer/). Find a lawyer and file lawsuits against them. Hope it helps.

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dec0dedab0de
I don't think it's gotten that far yet. As I did actually give them my
information. It's really this odd "wrong number" thing that is bothering me. I
just wanted to see if anyone else has even heard of it.

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matt_the_bass
Wow that’s weird. If your theory is true, any ideas why they do that? Does the
telemarketing call seem targeted?

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dec0dedab0de
The only thing I can think of is that they take their potential leads and run
it through a third party to weed out bad numbers. Maybe so that they don't
waste their sales people's time.

