Back in June I started receiving calls from Arkansas originating from different numbers located in various parts of the state. Some asked for persons, other callers asked to speak with a business or organization while a few others stated they were calling me back. An occasional call originated from a fax machine. I didn't think too much of it until July when the calls became a daily occurrence.
When I did call AT&T I had to force my way through to a manager because the guy handling the call didn't understand my concerns about security and the sudden frequency of calls from Arkansas. The manager held true that tech support would call me and someone did within a few hours. The support agent took my information and a good sampling of calls from my un-erased call log. By Saturday morning calls from Arkansas seemed to subside and AT&T texted my iPhone twice--"Sorry we were unable to reach you. If you are still having issues please contact us at 1-800-331-0500. Thanks ATT Wireless."
By Monday morning I was an operator taking calls from across the country including calls from Arkansas. I changed my tactics and started answering, "AT&T Operator--what number are you dialing please?" Callers then started giving me numbers including other information. I obtained the numbers they were dialing and even who and why--including their number and I even spoke to some of the same callers later in the day as I played operator. I told each caller to try their call later since "AT&T is experiencing difficulties in the network" and as the day went on, I couldn't keep up with the calls so I pressed DECLINE and sent the callers to voice mail. Once in the office I contacted AT&T again and repeated all the information a couple of times to contact center employees. Tech Support again called me and advised they were taking action again at a third level in support and then requested I resynch my iPhone with the network. The calls continued until the next day and then ceased. The AT&T tech support folks again called to check on the status and said they’d call again the next day and they did with the same report of no more calls.
Whatever happened I haven't learned, other than AT&T did a re-broadcast of my local routing number (LRN) across their network. The 2G network on which my iPhone resides isn;t secure according to the demo at a DEF CON event in Las Vegas by Chris Pagent using a device that cost around $1,500. Secure or not I don't see spending big bucks on a wireless phone upgrade just to help AT&T--that should be secure anyway.
My consolation prize was an AT&T rep adding 60 minutes to my account. I got 30 plus calls in less than 15 minutes and numerous others. I've already racked up several hours on the phone speaking with AT&T agents and support people. I should be happy that I reached the Phone gods at "level three-support"--and even happier and privileged that AT&T called me back. iPhone apps are cool and so is mobility but the smart phones are perfect flytraps designed to pick your pocket.
Another week passed without recurring calls. We headed for the Outer Banks for vacation and the following week while driving home my iPhone started ringing with calls from 501--Arkansas. The next day I repeated what I learned before to the AT&T agent: callers are dialing different 501 numbers unrelated to my cell number; the Caller-ID of these callers originate from various carriers: Cox, Verizon, AT&T, and none of them are dialing my number; the calls are not prank calls; no one printed up a business card with my cell number for distribution in Arkansas (according to one AT&T agent). I heard other interesting comments and theories about this issue but none of them jibed. Later in the day the calls started again and then stopped. The next day upon arriving to work, I found that one 501 caller dialed my cell five times: 2:10 a.m., 2:12 a.m., 2:13 a.m., 2:14 a.m. and 2:16 a.m. My theory is this guy is corked and calling his girl friend from a bar and is incredulous because he’s hearing my voice mail greeting instead.
I welcome hearing how you are monitoring your mobile phones and devices that connect to the cellular carriers. Next time I'll discuss what else I discovered.
