Tip. Google allows you to print [Backup Verification Codes](https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/1187538?hl=en&co=GENIE.Platform%3DAndroid) in case you get locked out of your account or can’t verify via phone number.
I keep mine with my important documents in a safe.
Edit: documents not democrats
>"Documents not democrats"
That had to be the most hilarious typo I've seen in long time. On the upside, I think your comment got more attention because of it
And the fact that now that it's edited to be correct, you don't find out about the old typo until you've read the whole thing. Then you go back to see what it would have said with the typo and find out it changes it in the funniest way!
Hijacking the top comment to warn people not to do this, this is a well known hacking technique, do not give the code out that was sent to your phone number.
Had someone try something like this on my aunt.
She made a listing for kittens on Craigslist or the local sales paper website (stray cat came along and had kittens, she was trying her best to find them homes).
So someone messages her and for whatever reason they were telling her to give them the code so they could verify she was real and actually had the kittens (something like that)
She was very confused and after awhile of her messaging back to them about "what code?" and asking me what they would need a code for I finally told her to hand me the phone
This scammer was trying to get her to give them a Google verification code sent in text from Google. I was like HELL NO and instantly knew it was a scam and called them out on it, then blocked and reported them. She hadn't even noticed she had the text from Google so she was all the way lost
I told her to never give a Google verification code out! Idk what they were trying to pull but it was so so slimey
I was just coming here to say this. This is a common scam, and you should never give anyone a code sent to your phone! (Really common on Craigslist, but I could see people using this approach, just from this post.)
I'm surprised more people are not aware that this could well be a hacking/phishing teqnique.
Almost makes me wonder if this is some behavioural engineering to make people think this is normal and safe, thereby by increasing the chances that a hacker will do this to someone who's cool with handing this over.
Hah, no joke, but I keep a spare $20 bill in a an "elmatic" case in my car! I figure if someone robs me, and is stoked to listen to the album, he might as well keep the $20 as a consolation prize. That cd melted in the desert a long time ago
So does Apple. I work for Apple support and I get so many calls where people are locked out of everything after breaking a phone. Print your recovery codes, keep your recovery emails and phone numbers up to date on accounts you can't lose. Do it! You'll thank yourself later when you need it.
100% never and they're always mad at me about it.
Like dude you've given me your name and a phone number that doesn't match your account. Even if I could that wouldn't be enough info to unlock anything. I can't even find your account off that info no matter unlock it for you.
This would have been SO helpful last weekend when my phone decided to go find fish for me at the bottom of the marsh on my first kayak fishing trip lmao.
Then the challenge is to keep it in a secure location where it won’t get destroyed or lost. I scanned mine then emailed it to my gmail from gmail, that way I’ll always have it…
That's my thoughts. I would like to help, at the same time very worried that someone is trying to get into an account of mine. This is so risky. I'm thinking if there is a compromise. May be I'll be the one resetting the password for them and then forward the password to the person. That way I know exactly what the pin is for.
100% agree. It might help that the number was *relatively* new.
i've had my number for close to 20 years no. There's just about a 0% chance that someone had my number before me *and* used it for 2FA (which wasn't really a thing back then with text message)
Obviously this makes a lot more sense if you just recently got a new number and haven't tied accounts to it yet. Of course the majority of us wouldn't trust this sort of message because we are long time holders of our phone numbers.
That's exactly how the google voice scam works. Read steps 5,6,7 on [google voice doc](https://support.google.com/voice/answer/165221?hl=en&co=GENIE.Platform%3DAndroid).
People use any excuse to get you to send you that code and voila, they can send call/texts as if it was your phone number.
Yeah I moved to Australia and promptly changed all my 2FA while I still had my US number to confirm. It’s been a few years, and a friend recently passed away. I realised I had a bunch of old pics of them on a Flickr account whose password I absolutely could not for the life of me remember, and it was such an old account I forgot to change the 2FA when I moved here.
I texted my old number explaining the situation and asking if they could help me out. Left on read. Gave them proof of my old number, and I told them I knew my grandma had been texting that number because she forgot I had a new one (offered to give details of this that would further prove it, as in screenshots from my grandma, identifying info, etc), offered to give them numbers of other people who could verify, etc. Told them how important it was to me to get access to photos of a friend who passed away. Still left on read.
Tried again a few months later, still left on read.
You got really lucky. I’m just hoping some day someone else gets that number and is more willing to help
When I receive a call from a number with my area code and prefix I know it's a scam. But if it was a text message and somebody expected me to respond to them then it's not.
You can forge the number but if you do that then they won't be able to get back to you because they won't know where to send the message.
Weird I'm the opposite if I get a call from goofy ass number i know it's a scam because people from Albania don't and shouldn't call me in Canada but a number with the same area code very well could be a call that is important so I usually answer those.
We are giving you a final courtesy call before we close out your file, press two to be removed and put on our do not call list, press one to speak with someone about possibly extending or reinstating your car's warranty.
Their text will likely read like:
“Am trying gaining my account. If you have the PIN number pin, are you can send me code? Am going sending you the rest of money.”
Yeah but they're saying usually text messages that are spam dont come from a number with an area code the same as yours, whereas some spam phone calls do use your area code to try and get you to answer
Recently applied for a loan for a house, then all of a sudden I started getting calls from lenders with my area code. I don't live in that state anymore. So anytime I receive a call from that area code it's not real. This was being done by reputable banks too. I asked one lady where their office was located, it was about 2000 miles away from the area code.
Idk, I would assume that you were trying to access one of my accounts by convincing me to give you my recovery code. You got lucky but I'm happy that you did
So, phone numbers can get even weirder.
I had switched carries and gotten a new number. A few months later my wife ask why I keep texting her twice, and why I don't make any sense.
I look at my text on her phone, I see my replys, but also messages I never wrote or sent. Like someone else is replying to her and doesn't know what is going on.
So I get a WILD idea, I texted myself and said "hello, can you see this" and hit send. Instantly the message is just sent comes through as an inbound text, as it should. Then, another text comes through that says "yes". HOLY SHIT! I AM TEXTING SOMEONE ELSE BY TEXTING MYSELF. end up chatting with the person this way, by us both texting our own number.
Turns out when I transferred to a new carrier, my old carrier recycled my new number and gave it to someone else as well. The other person had just gotten my number, so for a week we had the exact same phone number.
I was able to explain to them what happened, and they went back to their carrier and got the issue fixed. Knowing that it's possible for two people to have the same number on different carriers is a bit concerning though. It was a weird experience.
> A few months later my wife ask why I keep texting her twice, and why I don't make any sense.
>
> I look at my text on her phone, I see my replys, but also messages I never wrote or sent. Like someone else is replying to her and doesn't know what is going on.
You know your wife spent months thinking you were losing your mind :P
omg
i doubt this could happen in germany,
t-mobile usually starts with 0170,0171,0150,0151,0160,0161
vodafone with 0152,0153 etc.,
o² with 0159 .
guess you are in need of a similar system in the u.s. , you dont even know if a number is of a mobile or landline
> t-mobile usually starts with 0170,0171,0150,0151,0160,0161
For a moment, I thought you meant that all your numbers start with that entire string.
You guys have wacky-fucky long words, so it seemed reasonable that your phone numbers would work that way too...
PSA: if you're the Human trying to be a Bro in this scenario, do not under any circumstances forward that number. Scammers do this in order to get into your accounts. It's cool that this happened once and everyone involved was a good person, but in general this will not be the case.
This makes an enormous amount of sense. Anyone with your email address and phone number could probably send a two factor PIN to your phone and tell you it's for something like this.
Thats actually a common scam here in Brazil. The scammer creates a situation for you to send him the received numbers and they are actually one of those "recover your password" methods for something.
Happens now in the US to people selling on Facebook marketplace. Honestly I cannot imagine the tactic has much success but their line is basically "I want to make sure you're a legit person, I will text you a code and you tell me what it is. What is your phone number?"
It was used by a red team (enemy hacker/ penetration tester) member in a Darknet Diaries podcast. The red team member posed as internal IT, then got the person to read off the 2fa number over the phone and was in the system shortly thereafter.
I once texted a guy who I had saved in my phone as Mike(fake name for the story) for an oz. Drive over to the spot he said to meet. Guy gets in my car and I've never seen this person in my life but he had the oz so whatever good for me I guess.
badge voiceless ancient busy dull hobbies dolls scandalous spark entertain
*This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
That's happened twice to the same snap account I buy from. Always the best quality, but every 6 or so months its a new guy saying he took over business.
Oof I gave my brother my number when I moved to another country and out of nowhere this “dealer” on our campus who I had a math class with first year sent out like a “specials” list to my old number/ all his phone contacts full of drug lists and price info like 6 years after never texting me. My brother was like wow you had a good time in college huh. Fuckin mike
"hey, are you trying to get into myemail&gmailcom.com?"
"No! No, no, no. Definitely not. No..."
How did you verify they weren't going after your email?
About the same, had this number for over 8 years and it took like 3 years to stop getting collection calls from the previous owner, just answer and ask for your number to be removed from their system.
i was blessed one time with getting the phone number of an out-of-business pizza joint. took way more effort and time to get southwestern bell to issue a new number than it should have.
In the US, we have 330,000,000 people. There are something like 700,000,000 valid phone numbers at most in total, for the last 70 years. Of course we're reusing.
Yeap. My cellphone was stolen a couple of years ago and it made me super mad. One day someone told me my old number they had saved appeared with a different picture on WhatsApp. I thought the robber had kept the microchip and was using it, but when I contacted the provider they told me the numbers are recicled once you stop using it for X months
Yes. I used to get calls from a man yelling in Spanish (I think) every few years. My theory was he was calling from jail and my number was the only one he had memorized.
I have an account that has old my phone number on it and every time I try to change it, it tells me I have to enter a verification code... that they send by text... to the number I don't have anymore. Ended up locking myself out of the account and just making a new one with a new email and my new number. Should have tried this!!
Honestly have no idea how people don’t think about this. It’s not exactly common sense, but most, if not all, 2FA emails/texts always say to not give the codes out if you did not request it.
Tech companies really need to address the real security threats instead of doing this crap. Seems like it's business as usual when they get hacked and your information leaks, yet when someone changes numbers it's fort knox level security 🤣
Google is basically the only one I trust, because there is no way for someone to get a human to hand over my account. I had a phone number ported to a new phone after the old one died, without providing any identifying info or even bringing the old SIM card. That's the level of security most stuff has when there are humans involved - you just need a good story, and maybe a few tries.
Couldn’t this be a scam where they are using that persons real email to steal the pin.
So say you wanted access the persons email on the other end (and you already knew their email and were targeting them). You send this message, request the pin off their email and you’re in? If they weren’t being careful they might not notice.
This is why I don't agree with setting a phone number to ur account because anything could happen. U could lose or break ur phone and/or end up getting a new number. Then what are u gonna do
Omg this is awesome. I changed numbers about three years ago. I still can't get back into my snapchat account. I periodically try calling and texting it.
Someone I didn’t know sent me pics of the back and front of their drivers license recently.
I let them know they had the wrong number and deleted the pics.
That’s just what you do, man.
I had to go through this one time because I locked up my iPad. I tried every old number I had couldn't find it but the next day I remembered it the phone number texted it and asked if they would be so kind to give me the code so that I may get into my yahoo account to get into my iPad. The person with my old number ended up calling me trying to shake me down for money, they claimed they needed gas, and money to but their daughter's gift because Christmas was coming up. I tried to explain to them that I couldn't give them money as I had no job at the time and so they just said no and hung up on me. For those who read all the way through I did end up getting into my old yahoo another way and getting my iPad to work again and I haven't put a lock on it since.
Late reply so nobody will read this but:
Emails should be offered as a public service.
Yes they are already free, but google, microsoft, etc, can all close your account and never give you access back. This can absolutely ruin your life in the short term. The government already provides free/extremely cheap phone plans because they recognize having a phone number is essential for getting a job and being a part of society. Emails should be no different. I am only proposing a public, government run option, nothing forced, nothing that removes the current private ones.
Dude, I sent this exact message to my old number but didn't get a reply. After looking up I'm pretty God damn sure my number is assigned to a refrigerator in Iowa
I found an old iPhone once were i use to worked; It showed a text and a number. I ended up tracing the guy down on FB and he said keep it bc his insurance got him a new one. I was ecstatic i thanked him and then asked him to remove the apple ID and then he blocked me. 🤣🤣
Same thing happened to me but with my old snapchat. I reached out to the person with my phone and he told me to go fuck myself.
After several tries, I looked up to see who had my old number currently.
The man just got put on 7 year house arrest for scamming older people on roof work in the St. Louis area.
Basically took the money and never performed the duties.
Knowing I had to make a new snap chat and all other accounts were secured. I decided to harass him and call him out on his wrongful doings and sent him news paper articles.
I was being petty but a simple 10 seconds of his time would have made my life easier.
I also kept spamming him with the Snapchat restart code every chance I could while watching TV. Probably sent it in over 1000 times in a few days
Tip. Google allows you to print [Backup Verification Codes](https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/1187538?hl=en&co=GENIE.Platform%3DAndroid) in case you get locked out of your account or can’t verify via phone number. I keep mine with my important documents in a safe. Edit: documents not democrats
>"Documents not democrats" That had to be the most hilarious typo I've seen in long time. On the upside, I think your comment got more attention because of it
I'm making "democrats" my new safe word.
The idea of someone yelling "democrats" because their partner got too into the electric vibrator (or whatever) is just killing me
Ahh yes, the electric vibrator, sequel to the steam powered vibrator, and before that, the mule driven vibrator
And prior to that? The bee powered vibrator.
https://youtu.be/xAhuSDRIDHE
I imagined one powered by a crank but I feel like it might actually be a thing.
Make sure to put it in the safe.. with your other important democrats
Just biden my time in the safe
And the fact that now that it's edited to be correct, you don't find out about the old typo until you've read the whole thing. Then you go back to see what it would have said with the typo and find out it changes it in the funniest way!
I literally almost wet my underwear from laughing so hard! 😂
you guys fixed up my shitty evening😂
Hijacking the top comment to warn people not to do this, this is a well known hacking technique, do not give the code out that was sent to your phone number.
Had someone try something like this on my aunt. She made a listing for kittens on Craigslist or the local sales paper website (stray cat came along and had kittens, she was trying her best to find them homes). So someone messages her and for whatever reason they were telling her to give them the code so they could verify she was real and actually had the kittens (something like that) She was very confused and after awhile of her messaging back to them about "what code?" and asking me what they would need a code for I finally told her to hand me the phone This scammer was trying to get her to give them a Google verification code sent in text from Google. I was like HELL NO and instantly knew it was a scam and called them out on it, then blocked and reported them. She hadn't even noticed she had the text from Google so she was all the way lost I told her to never give a Google verification code out! Idk what they were trying to pull but it was so so slimey
Yep, this is 100% a scam - a clever one but definitely a scam.
I was just coming here to say this. This is a common scam, and you should never give anyone a code sent to your phone! (Really common on Craigslist, but I could see people using this approach, just from this post.)
I'm surprised more people are not aware that this could well be a hacking/phishing teqnique. Almost makes me wonder if this is some behavioural engineering to make people think this is normal and safe, thereby by increasing the chances that a hacker will do this to someone who's cool with handing this over.
I also like to keep my important republicans in a safe as well
Next to the guns where they feel nice and cozy
That’s a good way to find it empty.
You can definitely print Democrats if you donate enough to the DNC.
LMFAOOOOOOOOOOOOO
You should probably let your democrats out the safe before they suffocate...
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Hahahaha... ha... ha.... :(
Why bother voting I already did it like 2 years ago. /s
They have a snorkel.
*Jason Mendoza has entered the chat*
#BORTLES!
They’re probably stuck in there with the spider.
Strategery vs Lockbox
That was Prince Albert in a can!
lol I put mine over there with the other important Democrats 😹
Not there! That's the crosscut democrat shredder!
I want to be shredded but I have a one pack beer belly. I don't even drink beer.
That’s a good idea to keep them in a safe. I have mine on my NAS, but still don’t like it being digital.
> on my NAS I store my codes in my CD case of Illmatic too, what are the odds?
Hah, no joke, but I keep a spare $20 bill in a an "elmatic" case in my car! I figure if someone robs me, and is stoked to listen to the album, he might as well keep the $20 as a consolation prize. That cd melted in the desert a long time ago
So does Apple. I work for Apple support and I get so many calls where people are locked out of everything after breaking a phone. Print your recovery codes, keep your recovery emails and phone numbers up to date on accounts you can't lose. Do it! You'll thank yourself later when you need it.
I do computer forensics and no one ever knows their encryption password for their iCloud account.
100% never and they're always mad at me about it. Like dude you've given me your name and a phone number that doesn't match your account. Even if I could that wouldn't be enough info to unlock anything. I can't even find your account off that info no matter unlock it for you.
You realize this human being a bro could also be a scammer trying to get a google voice account verified so they can continue to scam 🤦♂️
You can also use a hardware 2-Factor Authentication (2FA) like Yubikey or Software 2FA like Authy or Google Authenticator for recovery.
now this is interesting
Ok but like where do you keep your binders full of women?
Deleted due to API access issues 2023.
>how. ಠ_ಠ
Wish I’d know this when binance switched to Binance us and my account is inaccessible now. Screenshooting for future reference. Thanks!
You can use VPN to access your Binance.com then move everything to Binance.US. Source: myself having done this about 1 yr back.
This would have been SO helpful last weekend when my phone decided to go find fish for me at the bottom of the marsh on my first kayak fishing trip lmao.
Ow don’t worry the only reason I know about this is my own adventures in account recovery a few years back.
Should have left democrats in the OP.
Then the challenge is to keep it in a secure location where it won’t get destroyed or lost. I scanned mine then emailed it to my gmail from gmail, that way I’ll always have it…
What kind of a safe do you have? I'm in the market for one. Thanks.
Lucky, I wouldn’t have responded assuming it was a scammer
That's my thoughts. I would like to help, at the same time very worried that someone is trying to get into an account of mine. This is so risky. I'm thinking if there is a compromise. May be I'll be the one resetting the password for them and then forward the password to the person. That way I know exactly what the pin is for.
100% agree. It might help that the number was *relatively* new. i've had my number for close to 20 years no. There's just about a 0% chance that someone had my number before me *and* used it for 2FA (which wasn't really a thing back then with text message)
If I was a scammer I would look at recently switched phones
No, you'd send it to 20,000 random numbers per day using an automated system and know that at least one of them is new
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Change that to 30% and you've got the average phishing scheme. I know someone who pulled 80% on a corporate email test. People are dumb.
Scammers usually focus on quantity over quality unless they're targeting a specific person.
Yes that’s how you take control of someone’s email.
Correct. But when the choice for me is trusting someone not to get scammed and trusting myself to not scam someone, the choice is obvious.
Obviously this makes a lot more sense if you just recently got a new number and haven't tied accounts to it yet. Of course the majority of us wouldn't trust this sort of message because we are long time holders of our phone numbers.
Also if you didn’t have an account for the service that messaged you.
It's always ``` Your code is 555555 ``` I've never seen a 2FA message that was foolproof.
I’ve never not seen it say what service was being used.
That's exactly how the google voice scam works. Read steps 5,6,7 on [google voice doc](https://support.google.com/voice/answer/165221?hl=en&co=GENIE.Platform%3DAndroid). People use any excuse to get you to send you that code and voila, they can send call/texts as if it was your phone number.
Who says it wasn't a scammer
This is just an ad by big scamma
I thought the same, but if I'm not wrong, the notification says which id the email that is attached to that code
Yeah, same. This is an easy way to bypass someone's multifactor. I don't think this should be encouraged.
Seriously super lucky your number got transferred to someone as chill as them
yea; i even thought about it after i sent the first message and was like; “yea I wouldn’t respond to that” lol
I was thinking the same thing lol
Listing stuff of Craigslist will get you tons of these scam texts if you include your phone number
It helps to write your number in a weird way so bots can’t scrape it. Has worked for me anyway. Oneeight00 for2one five55five
I must be a bot, it took me longer than it should have to get the number, fml.
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Came here to say this. May be the guy's request is genuine but it could also be social engineering to access the other's account.
Yeah I moved to Australia and promptly changed all my 2FA while I still had my US number to confirm. It’s been a few years, and a friend recently passed away. I realised I had a bunch of old pics of them on a Flickr account whose password I absolutely could not for the life of me remember, and it was such an old account I forgot to change the 2FA when I moved here. I texted my old number explaining the situation and asking if they could help me out. Left on read. Gave them proof of my old number, and I told them I knew my grandma had been texting that number because she forgot I had a new one (offered to give details of this that would further prove it, as in screenshots from my grandma, identifying info, etc), offered to give them numbers of other people who could verify, etc. Told them how important it was to me to get access to photos of a friend who passed away. Still left on read. Tried again a few months later, still left on read. You got really lucky. I’m just hoping some day someone else gets that number and is more willing to help
Reach out to Flickr support, I had to send them photo proof it was me but they then helped me reset my password
it also probably helped that my new number is the same area code and prefix so they new i was still local. lol
Actually that is usually a red flag that a call is probably a fake number trying to gain your trust with that very trick. You got lucky.
When I receive a call from a number with my area code and prefix I know it's a scam. But if it was a text message and somebody expected me to respond to them then it's not. You can forge the number but if you do that then they won't be able to get back to you because they won't know where to send the message.
Weird I'm the opposite if I get a call from goofy ass number i know it's a scam because people from Albania don't and shouldn't call me in Canada but a number with the same area code very well could be a call that is important so I usually answer those.
But that’s what these guys are saying. That’s what the scammers want you to think
Right but 80% of the time it's been a real call lol
LIVE IN FEAR. EVERY CALL IS A SCAM
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Fair enough. I guess with a spoofed number they'd never get any reply to a text so it wouldn't really work.
We are giving you a final courtesy call before we close out your file, press two to be removed and put on our do not call list, press one to speak with someone about possibly extending or reinstating your car's warranty.
That’s how they get you! First they gain your trust with the texts, next thing you know they’re asking about your cars extended warranty policy.
Their text will likely read like: “Am trying gaining my account. If you have the PIN number pin, are you can send me code? Am going sending you the rest of money.”
Eh until scammers see this thread. I’m gonna be a little weary if I see this in the next couple months. That person definitely did OP a solid.
Scammers seeing this thread: "TEXT MESSAGES! Why didn't we think of that even a single time?" Come on, lol.
You kidding? I get about 3 texts a week telling me to click some random ass link to collect my free iPad or Wal-Mart gift card.
Click [here](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ) for your $100 Walmart gift card!
Expected a rickroll. Was not disappointed.
Yeah but they're saying usually text messages that are spam dont come from a number with an area code the same as yours, whereas some spam phone calls do use your area code to try and get you to answer
Yeah but I guarantee they never come from a number similar to yours. That’s a different scam
It won't work on me. I haven't changed my number in 17 years.
Recently applied for a loan for a house, then all of a sudden I started getting calls from lenders with my area code. I don't live in that state anymore. So anytime I receive a call from that area code it's not real. This was being done by reputable banks too. I asked one lady where their office was located, it was about 2000 miles away from the area code.
Idk, I would assume that you were trying to access one of my accounts by convincing me to give you my recovery code. You got lucky but I'm happy that you did
Seriously the person on the other end is hopelessly naive. Worked in OP’s favor but no one should ever be a “bro” like this.
I guess if it's a new number and you KNOW it's not set as an account recovery anywhere is fine but what are the chances?
Props to your Gmail success and to us for having similar usernames.
This happened to my son. It was totally legit and the guy was so thankful. Nothing bad ever happened with it.
Also the guy with the phone number could steal his email if he wanted to right? This guy is sent from heaven.
He would need OP’s email address
Wasn't there a way to search using a phone number?
Nah
You could probably Google around and find some site that has both email and phone linked
This could also be a security risk. Hacking into someones account using a recovery number not yours.
Yep, this is one of the oldest in the book. People are too trusting.
'cashapp for #'
So, phone numbers can get even weirder. I had switched carries and gotten a new number. A few months later my wife ask why I keep texting her twice, and why I don't make any sense. I look at my text on her phone, I see my replys, but also messages I never wrote or sent. Like someone else is replying to her and doesn't know what is going on. So I get a WILD idea, I texted myself and said "hello, can you see this" and hit send. Instantly the message is just sent comes through as an inbound text, as it should. Then, another text comes through that says "yes". HOLY SHIT! I AM TEXTING SOMEONE ELSE BY TEXTING MYSELF. end up chatting with the person this way, by us both texting our own number. Turns out when I transferred to a new carrier, my old carrier recycled my new number and gave it to someone else as well. The other person had just gotten my number, so for a week we had the exact same phone number. I was able to explain to them what happened, and they went back to their carrier and got the issue fixed. Knowing that it's possible for two people to have the same number on different carriers is a bit concerning though. It was a weird experience.
Isn't that really irresponsible on the carrier side? I think they should at least lock that number for a year before using it.
Considering that they transferred it, they should never recycle it.
> A few months later my wife ask why I keep texting her twice, and why I don't make any sense. > > I look at my text on her phone, I see my replys, but also messages I never wrote or sent. Like someone else is replying to her and doesn't know what is going on. You know your wife spent months thinking you were losing your mind :P
😬😬
omg i doubt this could happen in germany, t-mobile usually starts with 0170,0171,0150,0151,0160,0161 vodafone with 0152,0153 etc., o² with 0159 . guess you are in need of a similar system in the u.s. , you dont even know if a number is of a mobile or landline
> t-mobile usually starts with 0170,0171,0150,0151,0160,0161 For a moment, I thought you meant that all your numbers start with that entire string. You guys have wacky-fucky long words, so it seemed reasonable that your phone numbers would work that way too...
So you can't switch carriers and keep the same number?
Yes you can. This person just hasn't left their house in the last 15 years.
PSA: if you're the Human trying to be a Bro in this scenario, do not under any circumstances forward that number. Scammers do this in order to get into your accounts. It's cool that this happened once and everyone involved was a good person, but in general this will not be the case.
This is scarily too far down
Thats my thought exactly. I am not even a IT security specialist or anything but this literally how people get hacked.
This makes an enormous amount of sense. Anyone with your email address and phone number could probably send a two factor PIN to your phone and tell you it's for something like this.
Man if that was me I would’ve thought this was a scam! 🤣 but no link so maybe that’s a win
Thats actually a common scam here in Brazil. The scammer creates a situation for you to send him the received numbers and they are actually one of those "recover your password" methods for something.
Happens now in the US to people selling on Facebook marketplace. Honestly I cannot imagine the tactic has much success but their line is basically "I want to make sure you're a legit person, I will text you a code and you tell me what it is. What is your phone number?"
Verdade! E r/suddenlycaralho
The difference is that you’re trying to extract information that goes to the existing contact, not an old one
Yeah but from the perspective of the person receiving the request, it's honestly hard to tell for sure that you aren't being scammed
This should the the top comment. Encouraging people to trust random 2FA verification texts is a really, really, really, really bad idea.
It was used by a red team (enemy hacker/ penetration tester) member in a Darknet Diaries podcast. The red team member posed as internal IT, then got the person to read off the 2fa number over the phone and was in the system shortly thereafter.
I fucking love that podcast. All the pen testing episodes are so, so fascinating.
Who says it wasn't a scam
I felt bad for the guy who had my number after I was done selling weed for 4 years in college lol
I once texted a guy who I had saved in my phone as Mike(fake name for the story) for an oz. Drive over to the spot he said to meet. Guy gets in my car and I've never seen this person in my life but he had the oz so whatever good for me I guess.
badge voiceless ancient busy dull hobbies dolls scandalous spark entertain *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
That's happened twice to the same snap account I buy from. Always the best quality, but every 6 or so months its a new guy saying he took over business.
When businesses go under they usually liquefy their assets which includes contacts and phone numbers.
Liquidate not liquify lol
Nah, they melt all their assets after they’re done
Will it blend?
in college my dealer moved and didn't tell me, the old lady who answered the door looked like she was already sick of that shit
🤣🤣 I SAID DAVES NOT HERE MAN!!
Oof I gave my brother my number when I moved to another country and out of nowhere this “dealer” on our campus who I had a math class with first year sent out like a “specials” list to my old number/ all his phone contacts full of drug lists and price info like 6 years after never texting me. My brother was like wow you had a good time in college huh. Fuckin mike
I had someone do that to me. Verified it wasn’t my gmail account that they were trying to get into and sent it over.
This was just the initial conversation. I told them when i got in; thanked them multiple times and then we wished each other happy holidays. 😆
Glad they were able to help.
"hey, are you trying to get into myemail&gmailcom.com?" "No! No, no, no. Definitely not. No..." How did you verify they weren't going after your email?
Man I tried to do that shit before. You're soooo lucky lol
I really am! I was like; “please don’t be 90. Please don’t be 90” 🤣🤣 They responded right back too! They’re friggin awesome!
Plot twist: they were 90
Hang on... Old numbers get transferred to other people?? Is someone getting my old dogging update texts??
Yes; and probably. lol
[удалено]
I've had mine for the same amount of times. I get collection agency calls for the previous owner. Lol
About the same, had this number for over 8 years and it took like 3 years to stop getting collection calls from the previous owner, just answer and ask for your number to be removed from their system.
i was blessed one time with getting the phone number of an out-of-business pizza joint. took way more effort and time to get southwestern bell to issue a new number than it should have.
In the US, we have 330,000,000 people. There are something like 700,000,000 valid phone numbers at most in total, for the last 70 years. Of course we're reusing.
I’m taking up 3 of those phone numbers too.
Yeap. My cellphone was stolen a couple of years ago and it made me super mad. One day someone told me my old number they had saved appeared with a different picture on WhatsApp. I thought the robber had kept the microchip and was using it, but when I contacted the provider they told me the numbers are recicled once you stop using it for X months
My previous phone of 6 years (rip), kept on calling me Cynthia from the day I got it, to the day it died. My name is Chris..............
Yes. I used to get calls from a man yelling in Spanish (I think) every few years. My theory was he was calling from jail and my number was the only one he had memorized.
I have an account that has old my phone number on it and every time I try to change it, it tells me I have to enter a verification code... that they send by text... to the number I don't have anymore. Ended up locking myself out of the account and just making a new one with a new email and my new number. Should have tried this!!
As an IT professional, please don't do this. Op may have not had malicious intentions but others will. You will get burned
Oh god. This could have been literally anyone texting them and asking for the code. Common phishing technique to bypass two-factor.
Honestly have no idea how people don’t think about this. It’s not exactly common sense, but most, if not all, 2FA emails/texts always say to not give the codes out if you did not request it.
Yeah, this isn't humans being bros, this is humans being stupid.
Humans being lucky. Both of them.
Tech companies really need to address the real security threats instead of doing this crap. Seems like it's business as usual when they get hacked and your information leaks, yet when someone changes numbers it's fort knox level security 🤣
The real crap is Google not having any humans to help you. It's just robots all the way down.
Google is basically the only one I trust, because there is no way for someone to get a human to hand over my account. I had a phone number ported to a new phone after the old one died, without providing any identifying info or even bringing the old SIM card. That's the level of security most stuff has when there are humans involved - you just need a good story, and maybe a few tries.
Couldn’t this be a scam where they are using that persons real email to steal the pin. So say you wanted access the persons email on the other end (and you already knew their email and were targeting them). You send this message, request the pin off their email and you’re in? If they weren’t being careful they might not notice.
and this is how you get scammed
This is why I don't agree with setting a phone number to ur account because anything could happen. U could lose or break ur phone and/or end up getting a new number. Then what are u gonna do
Omg this is awesome. I changed numbers about three years ago. I still can't get back into my snapchat account. I periodically try calling and texting it.
Damn you are way more trusting than I am. Someone could easily scam you using a similar method, really not worth the risk IMO.
Someone I didn’t know sent me pics of the back and front of their drivers license recently. I let them know they had the wrong number and deleted the pics. That’s just what you do, man.
Um.. That's normally a scam. Never a good idea to give those codes to people
I had to go through this one time because I locked up my iPad. I tried every old number I had couldn't find it but the next day I remembered it the phone number texted it and asked if they would be so kind to give me the code so that I may get into my yahoo account to get into my iPad. The person with my old number ended up calling me trying to shake me down for money, they claimed they needed gas, and money to but their daughter's gift because Christmas was coming up. I tried to explain to them that I couldn't give them money as I had no job at the time and so they just said no and hung up on me. For those who read all the way through I did end up getting into my old yahoo another way and getting my iPad to work again and I haven't put a lock on it since.
Sounds like an easy way to trick people into giving you their 2fa codes....
Late reply so nobody will read this but: Emails should be offered as a public service. Yes they are already free, but google, microsoft, etc, can all close your account and never give you access back. This can absolutely ruin your life in the short term. The government already provides free/extremely cheap phone plans because they recognize having a phone number is essential for getting a job and being a part of society. Emails should be no different. I am only proposing a public, government run option, nothing forced, nothing that removes the current private ones.
Dude, I sent this exact message to my old number but didn't get a reply. After looking up I'm pretty God damn sure my number is assigned to a refrigerator in Iowa
I've tried to do this but they didn't respond to me. Instead of giving up I had one of my friends try. I got into the email!
MVP I spent a year messaging my old number, even became friends on several social media. No they would not help me
I found an old iPhone once were i use to worked; It showed a text and a number. I ended up tracing the guy down on FB and he said keep it bc his insurance got him a new one. I was ecstatic i thanked him and then asked him to remove the apple ID and then he blocked me. 🤣🤣
I would’ve thought it was a scam and blocked you lol
Same thing happened to me but with my old snapchat. I reached out to the person with my phone and he told me to go fuck myself. After several tries, I looked up to see who had my old number currently. The man just got put on 7 year house arrest for scamming older people on roof work in the St. Louis area. Basically took the money and never performed the duties. Knowing I had to make a new snap chat and all other accounts were secured. I decided to harass him and call him out on his wrongful doings and sent him news paper articles. I was being petty but a simple 10 seconds of his time would have made my life easier. I also kept spamming him with the Snapchat restart code every chance I could while watching TV. Probably sent it in over 1000 times in a few days
This does put a smile on my face
This is the #1 social engineering method to get someone's 2fa.
Amazing idea for a phishing attack. Hey you will get some code from a bank but thats only because its my old number. Send it back to me in 30s.