“They thought I was a scammer—but I was just answering a call”

When a stranger uses your phone number and you become the target.

I’ve never been particularly tech-savvy. I use my phone, pay my bills, and sometimes order things online—that’s about it. It all started when I received a call one morning from a Hungarian cell phone number. I answered. A recorded voice spoke—in Chinese.

I was taken aback; I thought it was a wrong number. I hung up. An hour later, the phone rang again—another Hungarian number, the same voice. I hung up again.

The next day, another call. But this time, they weren’t calling me—I was the one getting callbacks. One of the voices sounded annoyed. A woman asked, “Why are you calling me, and what’s with all this Chinese text?” I tried to explain that I hadn’t called anyone, but the next day three strangers called me back, including a man who claimed that someone had ordered a smartphone from my number, cash on delivery, using fake information.

I didn’t understand. Then it turned out that someone had used my phone number for a scam. They ordered an expensive item with cash on delivery, then asked the courier to call this number “before delivery.” The courier called—me, of course, because my number had been provided. But no one picked up the package.

Then the online store contacted me to ask why I hadn’t picked up the order and when I would be able to cover the return shipping costs. Later, another online store got in touch—my phone number was listed there as well, again under a fake name. By then, I had become suspicious myself.

That’s when I started looking into what had happened. According to my service provider, there’s no unusual activity on my account, but they can’t prevent someone else from “spoofing” my number in the call log. This is called spoofing—when someone pretends to be calling or placing an order from my phone number.

Over the next few weeks, several strangers contacted me, angry and suspicious. Some thought I was trying to swindle money out of them. Others thought I had contacted them about a fake prize draw. One woman even threatened to report me to the police.

I didn't know what to do. My email, bank account, and government portal were all linked to my phone number—I didn't want to have to start all over again. And yet, part of my life had become a target for strangers, even though I hadn't done anything wrong.