My number used to ring someone I don’t know

[Knic]

Yesterday I got a phone call off someone claiming I’d rang them (I hadn’t) and they were ringing back. Today my daughter had exactly the same. We have totally different numbers but on the same contract and the ppl ringing back showed us call logs with our numbers ringing them? Any ideas how this has happened?

[Bambino]

Your numbers have been spoofed, @Knic. See this: Ofcom Spoofing Warning - O2 Community

The good news is spoofers usually only use numbers for a short period of time and then move on. Not much anyone can do about this plague at the moment.

[Knic]

Thanks for the reply @Bambino. I did ring o2 and after spending ages actually getting through to a human they said it was because we are using iPhones which I thought sounded weird! Fingers crossed we don’t now get inundated 😬

[BadService]

Why can't phone compnies stop this?

[gmarkj]

Ultimately because it is really hard.
Most spoofing happens via VOIP, and as with most things on the internet it's really difficult to stop/control it.
Here are some links with more information about it, why it is such an issue and what you can do.
https://www.ofcom.org.uk/phones-telecoms-and-internet/advice-for-consumers/problems/tackling-nuisanc...
https://turbofuture.com/cell-phones/Telemarketers-Are-Using-My-Number-How-I-Stopped-Them
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-56521518
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-56934517