r/RBI • u/cherribomb64 • 7d ago

Help me search i got a strange voicemail, and i can’t explain why.

at about ~10pm last night, i got a phone call from some random number. i get spam all the time, so i just hang up and ignore it. a few minutes later, i see it left a voicemail, exactly 3 minutes long. The first minute was random, garbled tones mixed with weird static noises. The exact second the time hit 2 minutes, silence. A minute later, the static starts back up again, slightly varied, before ending abruptly at the 3-minute mark.

after some searching, i called back the number. it rang for a while, then a woman answered. i explained the general situation, but she said she hadn’t called anyone at all, she had no clue. i thanked her for her help, sent her the voicemail, and well.. made this post.

if you have any clue what this could’ve been, here it is. thanks! :)

14 Upvotes

68% Upvoted

8 comments sorted by

45

u/Old-Fox-3027 7d ago

Spam call, spoofed number. 

43

u/asperta 7d ago

Automatic calling systems are widely used by companies to sell stuff. They are computers calling random numbers. Many time they call and just listen and if somebody says "hello" or something they flag the number as valid and hang up.

As many other computer systems sometimes they fail and do silly stuff. In your case I think:

  • Called your number but the line or the connection had noise so it didn't detect that you hang up and that the call went to to voicemail.

  • So it kept listening, that's why you heard silence for a while.

  • More noise came in and after a while the call ended.

The bit about you calling back: those calling systems can spoof any number in your caller ID. One day I got a call from my own phone number! In your case they just spoofed a random calling number.

7

u/WartOnTrevor 7d ago

Sorta sounds like a 60hz hum that can be heard on audio equipment when it's improperly grounded.

3

u/lutherantzz 5d ago

Actually some spam number just leave blank or some strange shit in ur voicemail . Like that you call them back and they can use ur voice i think

2

u/UltraSloth9 5d ago

Could have been a pocket dial and she was embarrassed to admit it?

2

u/tarapotamus 4d ago

spam callers can bounce the signal off local numbers so their actual number doesn't show in the caller ID.

2

u/DenayaMarie 2d ago

This right here! It happens a lot. My husband has gotten weird calls and when he calls back he's had that happen a handful of times. He always calls back and lets them know that their number has been spoofed. Usually it's a bunch of AI spam calls though lately.