Someone is using my landline to make calls!

I'm new to this website so I apologize if this has been posted before.

I just found out that someone has been using my landline to make calls

I googled my number just out of curiosity. I went to a various of websites and there were comments about my number calling and hanging up. The only person I call on my landline is my grandma. On white pages it says "moderate spam activity suspected". I don't know anything about this. My bill has always been the same. I do live with my dad but I doubt he is making these phone calls. A couple years ago someone had called my cell and asked why I keep calling them (which I didn't). This just really bothers me. If you google the number you can see our names. I'm scared that they are using my or my father's name to make these phone calls. If they call someone we know, it makes us look bad. I'm sorry if this is a double post but I really don't know what to do? Has this happened to anyone else? What should I do?

>> I just found out that someone has been using my landline to make calls <<

Are they actually using your landline?
If so, how can you tell?

Alternately, they may be spoofing your phone number. That is starting to be yet another scam.

We can no longer believe the phone number we see on our caller IDs (CID) belongs to the person who called! The bad guys are now using easily accessed technology to "spoof" the CID numbers, so their real number does not appear.

The problem has gotten so bad, the US government actually passed an Act, called "The Truth in Caller ID Act of 2009", making such spoofing illegal. See http://www.fcc.gov/guides/caller-id-and-spoofing
for more information.

The FCC adopted that Act in June, 2010, stating that violators could be fined up to $10,000 for each violation.

However, the bad guys are ignoring this law ... after all, they are criminals, and that is what criminals do. Although we now have a "law" against spoofing, it is very difficult to enforce it.

So, if somebody sees a CID number on their phone when they are called by some scammer or telemarketer, it might not belong to the scammer! It might be the number of some unsuspecting third party ... or, it might be one of those numbers that charge $25 (plus about $9 per minute) if you call it back.

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Reply to this post with more information, and maybe we can give you more specific assistance.

This could be caller id spoofing. In the past bogus operations displayed out of service numbers. But I believe more and more are displaying numbers that belong to innocent third parties. I say this because my mom has received calls that display the name of a person. When this happens I will not reveal the name if I post a comment about the calls since they could have no connection to the operation behind it.

As Slim said your number is being spoofed.  You are lucky you haven't had the problem that this woman had:  https://800notes.com/forum/ta-9f0ce767d8019be/a-different-spoofing-victim

Clarity needed, but sounds like a spoofing problem.    If someone is physically connected a phone to your line (either in your house or outside at the termination box) you would probably have noticed that.  And your bills would be much, MUCH higher.
  I think it is unlikely that Grandma, being the only other person you have mentioned, is at the heart of a multimillion dollar phone scamming empire.  But you know her better then I do.  Unless she has been buying cars, boats etc, I would not worry.
  I hope someone here will have some ideas to combat spoofing.  Truthfully, if only you and Grandma are using the line, changing the the number may be the fastest and easiest way to stop the spoofing.  I doubt a scammers went after you specifically, they most likely picked a random residential number.   Good Luck!

Ya know the last person in the world you would suspect is dear old Grandma.  :-}

Alright, Anon, you've got me!  I'm living in the basement and I use the calls to generate some cash through my multi-level marketing organization.  Occasionally, I do order a supreme pizza and Diet Pepsi.  The driver's come to the basement hatch and I tell them I have a poker game going on.  Stop down some time.  It would be nice if you brought some nachos!

Mon Ami, I suspect No One and Everyone.  :)   I suspect even myself!

They're using my landline phone number, not my actual landline.

They're still using most likely a computer to spoof your number

Like CD said ... they can still spoof your number, just as they can anyone else's.

That makes at least three here so far that have said this... the only other thing you might possibly have to do at this point may be to contact your phone/service provider and change your number. That's up to you though.

The same happened to me on my cell phone.  People kept calling me and asking me who I was and why I was calling them.  I had no idea what they were talking about.  After contacting my service provider, they told me to change my number and that was all they could do.  They explained the whole spoofing thing to me.  But one CS rep suggested that I put a message on my phone stating that if they were from certain states and were getting a call from my number, I am not the person calling and that my number had been highjacked.  The calls were coming mostly from states in the Northern part of the US.  Anyway, after I did that, the calls finally stopped.  I guess people finally realized I wasn't making the calls and whomever highjacked my number gave up.  I am so sick of this kind of crap, I can't hardly see straight.

I've had this # for 20+ years but I guess I'll either have to change the number or maybe just get rid of my landline altogether.

Just keep in mind that changing your number may not put an end to unwanted calls. I know this because I have had more than one number where I ended with harassing calls from debt collectors looking for people I never heard of. Consider the option of a call blocker or registering with a service that blocks robocalls.

I want to make sure I understand the issue correctly.   Anon's landline number shows on a victim's CID when this one scammer is making calls.  For example:  I get a call from this scammer, and my CID shows Anon's phone number.  If I call the number my CID shows to see who called or to cuss out whoever called, I end up calling Anon, thereby making his life miserable. If I am understanding the problem correctly, if Anon changes his phone number, he will be leaving the problem behind.  The scammer probably picked a random number to spoof, and will probably continue using the old number; it doesn't matter to the scammer if the number is connected or not, it is only window dressing for the a mark's CID.
   When Anon changes his number, he wants to make sure that the phone company does not have a recording that says "The number has been changed.  The new number is xxx-xxx-xxxx."  Poor Anon would be back about where he started.
   IF the scammer spoofs Anon's new number, then Anon has a another and maybe bigger problem altogether.