Need help with txts im not sending!

Worried0512

Hi All,

Is the following possible:

Somebody is sending my fiances 14 year old female cousin txts from my phone number. i've met the girl twice and dont even have her phone number but it turns out she has being txting who she thought was me and i have even being txting her back, which i havent - ive had no knowledge of this until the gardai phoned me on Saturday night and warned me to stop.

my fiance was in her house today and saw txts from my number. the txts are very obscene and a few have been frightening for the poor girl.

before anyone says it no, im not txting her!

does anyone know of this happening to anyone or know if its even possible....

thanks for the help,
worried0512

MagicMarker

They could be being sent from webtext.

I would immediately contact my provider and get my login details changed asap.

Timmy_d

weird

irish_boy90

change phone.
new number. keep it with you at all times.

hopefully that will solve it and if the texts continue it will prove it wasn't you.

Worried0512

Hi Magicmarker,

have already changed my login details and been to the guards - wasnt very helpful but felt better about giving my side of the story.

meteor tech guys not in work til tomorrow morning so will be calling into the nearest meteor shop i can find!

horrible situation, whole family knows and everything complete mess

Worried0512

Hi Irish_boy90

she has already blocked my number so not sure if anymore txts have been sent - im sure i can check that tomorrow with meteor.

feel like throwing my phone away and never using one again!

littlemizz

that is really weird! i would have also assumed it was been done over webtxt but if you have changed your details??? sure god knows what new devices and ways they have come up with to get into your fone and send txtxs from it these days! thats just mad i hope its all sorted for you soon!

donutface

Meteors security is absolutely a load of crap

For the last 3 years ive been able to log into any meteor phone number, ive contacted them about this but no response and no fix on their site even after they revamped. They limit you to a 4 digit pincode and on their site theres no checking to lock out accounts if you get it wrong more than 3 times. Realistically this means within 3-5 hours you can get any pincode with a basic program which i wont attach here. Change your pincode to a longer than 4 digit pin (ideally 8 or 9) and you should be safe enough.

Hopefully this will encourage meteor to fix their site

Edit: I have nothing to do with your 14 year old cousin btw, but this is utter common sense and anyone interested in the topic would have spotted this already so I know im not the only one who knows about this

Gaz

It is possible to clone a sim and also to bluetooth hack a phone but to be honest this is unlikely.
Sounds like someone got your webtxt details.

You have explained it wasnt you and your also trying to sort it, that should be more than enough to get everyone on your side

irish_boy90

"get into your phone"

yes that could be it. my mate has a program on his phone. he can hack into any mobile he is around that has blue tooth on and basically do as he wants.

i would ask if u had it on but my mate also told me of a different program that can get into your phone even if blue tooth is off.

littlemizz

im a bit worried now...........:eek: im with meteor!!!!:eek:

Worried0512

Hi Donutface,

my fiances cousin has being txting this person to my number but im not getting any of the txts but she is sure that she is sending her replies to my number.

she has now blocked my number so she shouldnt receive anymore txts but i wanna get to the bottom of this and know who is doing this and how

Victor

Does she have someone else's number attached to your name?

Can I suggest you find someone tech savvy and a solicitor if necessary.

takola

Where are the messages she's been sending going to though?

Zillah

Phone networks can do really weird things. One night when the whole family was in bed, my mobile started ringing. It claimed the call was from my fathers mobile, which was on the counter in the kitchen. At one point I was holding both phones in my hands, one powered off, one receiving a phonecall from the phone that was powered off. It rang me like three times, silence on the line if I answered.


Aaaaanyway: Get a new phone. Leave Meteor. Ask her, via someone else, to unblock the number to see if they keep coming. Give her your old phone so she can be sure its not you.

Twinkle-star15

That's really odd, and I hope it gets sorted out soon!! At least the family know it's not you doing it.

dame

Phone networks can do weird things alright. I got picture messages sent by my fiance but they showed up as having come from a completely different number. I rang O2 to see what the story was and they said basically not to worry about it, that things get switched accidentally now and again.

Your situation is beyond weird though. It does sound like someone is deliberately doing this and knows it's wrong so they're hiding behind your number. Get all the records you can from Meteor, itemised bills, a log of what traffic has happened on webtext, etc and set about trying to find out what computer that traffic originated from if you can(?). I'd get a new phone too but don't advertise the fact in case whoever's doing it stops to make you look guilty. Hand the old phone to someone responsible and ask the girl to give them her phone for a week or so too ( with your number unblocked) and see if it can be proved you didn't send those texts. A solisitor might be no harm either. If you can catch whoever did it bring them to court if you can at all.

vir7ual

Phones can be cloned and its very easy to do so. Even though the texts show they're coming from your number and when she replies, you dont get them, thats easily done to re-route the outgoing text. Change sim, can happen on any network.

celt262

It's wierd that the girl is someone that is known to you. Would it be possible that it is someone that know both of you who is sending these messages?

Sam Vimes

vir7ual wrote:

Phones can be cloned and its very easy to do so. Even though the texts show they're coming from your number and when she replies, you dont get them, thats easily done to re-route the outgoing text. Change sim, can happen on any network.

so how is a phone cloned then if its so easy? And how can texts be rerouted? The networks tell me it can't be done so you must know something they don't. OP, rest assured that unless the culprit is someone very high up in the technical department of meteor this is not happening

irish_boy90 wrote:

"get into your phone"

yes that could be it. my mate has a program on his phone. he can hack into any mobile he is around that has blue tooth on and basically do as he wants.

i would ask if u had it on but my mate also told me of a different program that can get into your phone even if blue tooth is off.

it would be possible to hack into a phone if the bluetooth was on but the culprit would have to be within ten metres of the phone at all times. However its not possible to hack in if the bluetooth is off. Your friend was either lying or misinformed

me and the biz

It has to be someone you both know, how else would she have thought it was you if they were some randomers? I think its fairly odd that you didn't receive the msgs she was replying...

This is all really weird. Is there anyone in the family who would do this?

humanji

As was said before, could someone have changed the entry in her phone for your name? Check to see if the mobile number (not just the name attached to it) is the same as yours.

Also, is your mobile contract or Pay as you go? If it's contract, your bill will show all the txts you made and to what numbers. It it's Pay as you go, meteor should be able to provide you with a list.

craichoe

Worried0512 wrote:

Hi All,

Is the following possible:

Somebody is sending my fiances 14 year old female cousin txts from my phone number. i've met the girl twice and dont even have her phone number but it turns out she has being txting who she thought was me and i have even being txting her back, which i havent - ive had no knowledge of this until the gardai phoned me on Saturday night and warned me to stop.

my fiance was in her house today and saw txts from my number. the txts are very obscene and a few have been frightening for the poor girl.

before anyone says it no, im not txting her!

does anyone know of this happening to anyone or know if its even possible....

thanks for the help,
worried0512

Check the message center number. The originating caller id on SMS messages comes from the originating SMS gateway and can actually be changed to whatever you want. If the message center number is no +353857000000 then it did come from Meteors network, same with if its +35386 +35387 whatever.

You can send a message from any number to any number, its really quite easy. Do a search for the message center number on google and you'll more than likely get the provider, send them an email reporting the abuse and they can track it back to the users account, from this they can get them via the billing address of the credit card they used to purchase credit for their SMS account.

Just like when you get a message and the sender ID is "Meteor" or "Vodafone" or "SMS2WIN" or some rubbish, its just an ID and very easy to abuse.

AFAIK, bluetooth hacking is a load of rubbish, most people have it turned off by default as it wrecks the battery and all phones are different, there is a few exploits out there for specific models but their mostly windows ce smartphones.

PM me if you need further info.

cold_filter

OP, ask Meteor to check out the IMSI. Most likely this persons IMSI and yours have been inter changed some how. I worked for one of the the other operators and one day a similar issue landed in my email. It took a while but we found the problem in the end much to the persons relief, we also found the guy who was sending the messages he was at the other end of the country.

craichoe

cold_filter wrote:

OP, ask Meteor to check out the IMSI. Most likely this persons IMSI and yours have been inter changed some how. I worked for one of the the other operators and one day a similar issue landed in my email. It took a while but we found the problem in the end much to the persons relief, we also found the guy who was sending the messages he was at the other end of the country.

If the IMSI had been cloned in some way, they would have needed his SIM card to do it and also her number, plus technical knowhow and a motive. All sounds very unlikely to go to all that trouble, cloning would usually be done to rack up big phone bills on other peoples accounts.

AFAIK its difficult if nigh on impossible to grab a IMSI from the air as its encrypted with a KSN during handshake when making a call. It has been done in the past with expensive specialised kit.

Again, too much hassle for whats being done in this case.

OP, i recon you should go down to the garda station and dump the phone on the counter. If their so sure its you, tell them they can have your phone and get a new number.

I'd say its more likely to be coming from a non irish sms center.

Riesen_Meal

I used to fix mobiles,

mobile phones can be cloned (IMEI), if ya know what your doing.... I cloned mine!


Hard to do, and a lot of effort on a technicians behalf, but yes it can be done....

seamus

OP, you really need to get someone technical to help you with this one.

All of the simple explanations, such as online accounts being hacked, can be explained away or eliminated very quickly.

Other things, such as cloned SIMs are harder to trace. As best I understand the system, it's not possible to have two SIMs on the network at the same time with the same phone number. So if your mobile is on and someone else is sending texts from your number, then they're not being sent from a phone.

Other things to consider - would you often leave your phone unattended? Do you turn it off much? Are the texts being sent at certain times during the day/night? Do the texts actually identify who is sending them (i.e. within the text of the message) or is it just a number?

My best advice is this: Contact meteor and have them cancel your number. Get a statement of sorts confirming that your account has been cancelled and your SIM deactivated.
Stick the old SIM in an envelope along with a copy of this statement. Seal it and sign along the seal, along with the date, in the presence of a witness, and give the envelope to this witness to look after it - your fiancé will do fine.

If the messages continue to come after this, you have solid evidence, with a witness, that it's not you. So rest easy.

cold_filter

craichoe wrote:

If the IMSI had been cloned in some way, they would have needed his SIM card to do it and also her number, plus technical knowhow and a motive. All sounds very unlikely to go to all that trouble, cloning would usually be done to rack up big phone bills on other peoples accounts.

AFAIK its difficult if nigh on impossible to grab a IMSI from the air as its encrypted with a KSN during handshake when making a call. It has been done in the past with expensive specialised kit.

Again, too much hassle for whats being done in this case.

OP, i recon you should go down to the garda station and dump the phone on the counter. If their so sure its you, tell them they can have your phone and get a new number.

I'd say its more likely to be coming from a non irish sms center.

No I don't mean that this person has hacked the network. The IMSI switch occured due to an error on the network so that person A when sending SMS it appeared on the receivers phone that it was coming from person B and vice versa.

echosound

Isn't there a facility with meteor where you can check online what calls and texts you have made even with a pre-paid phone stating numbers called/texted and time and duration etc? have you checked this to see if your account/phone has indeed been the one that is sending these texts? Change your number/sim card and get the old sim card closed by meteor, and as someone suggested, perhaps give your phone and sim to the guards, get the 14 yr old to unblock the number and give the phone to her parents(so she doesn't have to be upset by the content of messages that may arrive) , and see if the texts continue to come in. That may clear your name if it continues. Also, I assume you have contacted Meteor about this and asked them to investigate?

Sam Vimes

All this talk of sim card cloning, bluetooth hacking, network manipulation and diverting texts is ridiculous. Its like something out of a james bond film. Its either something simple like the numbers are similar or someones telling porkies, be it the cousin, the fiance messing with the op, or the op himself seeing if someone on boards can come up with a plausible explanation to help him get away with it

craichoe

Commander Vimes wrote:

All this talk of sim card cloning, bluetooth hacking, network manipulation and diverting texts is ridiculous. Its like something out of a james bond film. Its either something simple like the numbers are similar or someones telling porkies, be it the cousin, the fiance messing with the op, or the op himself seeing if someone on boards can come up with a plausible explanation to help him get away with it

Nope, its really very easy, If you don't believe me PM me your number and i'll send you a message from whoever you like !