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Dialed bank 4 times, got them 3 times, got a scammer once, GV: I did not misdial

Started by rhk1, November 09, 2021, 06:37:35 PM

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rhk1

Repeating the text of the subject, since apparently it is too big for this forum:

I dialed my bank 4 times, got them 3 times, got a scammer once, GV log shows I did not misdial

This is something I posted over on the Google support forums.  Below it is the only response I got, and now the thread is locked.  The responder  from Google seems to be pointing the finger at ObiTalk.  (I tried to respond, among other things to say that the Obi200 (which is what I am using) is supposedly fully supported by (or on) Google Voice, and I configured the Obi using the "automatic" Google configuration available after you log in to ObiTalk.   Further, the Obi200 is always online, so presumably was updated in that firmware update mentioned when you come to the ObiTalk site (the notice is gone now that I've logged in).

<quote: what I wrote on the Google support forum>
I'm keeping this rather cryptic at first, as I could provide a lot of details, but if it is already a  known issue, I'd like to read about that and then consider adding details.

I've had two incidents of this, one on October 13 with a financial institution, the other today with a bank.

In both cases, I called a bonafide number -- for the financial institution, I had my account open on a web page (I could see my account numbers and balance) and needed help, so found and then dialed a number shown on that page.

In the case of my bank, I called the number on the back of the credit card.

In the case of the financial institution, I called them 3 times -- on the first call I got a scammer who extracted too much personal information from me (including a credit card number and details, my SSN, and other stuff) on the pretext of verifying me before being willing to discuss my problem.  Once I realized I had been talking to a scammer, I called the same number again and got a genuine representative of the financial institution (confirmed in a variety of ways).  I hung up without concluding my business in order to start figuring out what I needed to do to try to mitigate the damage.  I called the same number a third time later in the afternoon and reported the fraud / scam to them, and did things like lock down the account.

The Google Voice log shows that I dialed the same number all three times -- I did not mis-dial!

The incident today was similar.  I called 4 times -- the first time I definitely got the bank.  The 2nd time, the call got disconnected after 40 seconds.  The 3rd time, I got a scammer who tried to sell me a medical alert service.  The 4th time I got the bank again.

One again, the Google Voice log shows that I dialed the same number all four times -- I did not mis-dial!

I have reported this to many of the places I should report it to, like my local police department, the 3 credit rating agencies, identitytheft.gov, and I plan to send a report to the US Attorney General.  (And, after waiting on hold for about an hour and 53 minutes to talk to someone at Google, at their suggestion I will report it at ic3.gov, and here, in the Google Voice support forums.

The identity theft creates big problems for me (today I got a receipt for ~$2400 in airline tickets charged to a credit card that I did not create), but I am more concerned that this is some new type of hack -- the idea that someone can call a valid number and get a scammer is scary.  Suppose you called your local police non-emergency number and got a scammer, or your bank, or ...

To reiterate: I'm concerned that this is some new type of hack, and I'm not sure Google is aware of it or is working to prevent or mitigate it.

So, some things I'm asking:

   * Has anyone else experienced an event like this?

   * Is the issue already reported somewhere on support.google.com/voice -- if so, can you point me to the report?

Now I guess I should add some additional information:

   * I make my calls using Google Voice using a VOIP device (ObiHai). so that is a player in the picture.

   * After the first incident, I changed the password on my Google account, but that did not prevent the 2nd incident.  Therefore I will be creating a new Google account (already done) and using that for Google Voice.  (I will have to pick a new phone number, and then notify all the critical essential parties (e.g., banks) of the new number and that the old number is void.

By the way, I can provide screen shots of the Google Voice logs I mentioned, and, I can give  dates and times of all the mentioned calls to anyone like a bonafide Google representative who can presumably access those logs directly and confirm that I have not altered them.

Thank you!
</quote: what I wrote on the Google support forum>

<quote: the one response I got before the report was locked>
Bluescat
Diamond Product Expert
Bluescat: jazz and blues music lover, and crazy cat lover.
1 hr
Hi rh kramer:  thanks for posting in the volunteer user-to-user Google Voice Community forum.

It is completely impossible for Google Voice to mysteriously do that by itself, and no, nobody has ever reported that scenario.  Ever.

You've got something else going on, likely a configuration issue with your OBiTALK device, which is outside the scope of this help community.

Since you have contacted legal authorities, we can no longer respond to you here on this forum.  All inquiries would have to go through Google's legal department.

This question is locked and replying has been disabled.
</quote: the one response I got before the report was locked>

So, I'll ask the same  questions I asked on the google support forum (repeated from above):

   * Has anyone else experienced an event like this?

   * Is the issue already reported somewhere on support.google.com/voice -- if so, can you point me to the report?



SteveInWA

This is complete whackadoodle nonsense.  It is impossible for Google Voice to do that.  It is also impossible for an OBiTALK device to magically call a bank fraudster when you call your bank.

https://support.google.com/voice/thread/134686984

Lavarock7

I wonder if you had this problem during the time a number of the VOIP suppliers were being bombarded with denial of service attacks? I can imagine that these attacks were not just to deny service but also to perhaps have a way to affect routing?

In any event I have never had an issue such as yours in 20 some years of VOIP calling EXCEPT when I had telephone keybounce and that would be obvious in the calling logs. It sounds as though you have not seen that.

Of course just because I have not seen such an issue as yours does not mean it didn't happen.
My websites: Kona Coffee: http://itskona.com and Web Hosting: http://planetaloha.info<br />A simplified Voip explanation: http://voip.planet-aloha.com

SteveInWA

It simply can't happen.  The OP said: 
Quote
The Google Voice log shows that I dialed the same number all three times -- I did not mis-dial!

Now, I can see where an isolated call routing error could mis-route a call to some other random telephone subscriber, but absolutely not the scenario here.

Google Voice can't possibly be hacked to mysteriously re-route calls to one company (a bank) to a different destination number being used by a bank fraudster, and then do it again with a different financial institution!

It's complete bullshit.

rob613

Have you asked the bank or the financial institution to check their own incoming call logs for all calls from your number?
It should be possible to do so just by your phone number, and even easier given your phone log knowing the days that these things happened.
They out to have a Manager of Information Systems or call center director who knows how to get those logs.
That should allow for a quick and easy comparison with both your Obi callhistory log (save it) and your Google Voice phones call record.

Also:
It doesn't appear to me that you were discussing legal action against Google in any way, only with regard to a scammer getting way too much information from you, and the need to protect yourself from identity theft and actual bank fraud theft.   I think it is quite unfortunate that the sole google staff person who responded closed replies and prevented any further helpful discussion.