Today I had a co-worker ask me about a strange text message he received last night from my number. I was confused because I had not texted him (or anybody) last night. He showed me the message on his phone, which read:

"Happy n da house!"

...It made no sense and it is not something that would ever come out of my mouth, much less a text. And on top of that, my phone was in my possession during the time of the text, no doubt about it. I checked my text history and there is no record of me sending a text on my phone. I was completely sober and conscious at the time as well.

Has anybody ever heard of this happening, or had it happen to themselves? I do not understand how it happened but it worries me that someone can send a text using my number and me not even know about it. Any ideas?

[Edited on March 25, 2009 at 6:30 PM. Reason : .]

3/25/2009 6:29:16 PM

it was probably just spoofed

first hit on googling
http://www.smsspoofing.com/

3/25/2009 6:30:26 PM

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMS_spoofing

3/25/2009 6:31:24 PM

nm lemme read up on this shit

[Edited on March 25, 2009 at 6:33 PM. Reason : .]

3/25/2009 6:32:34 PM

k i about called you fucking retarded since it explains it right there. but i'll let it slide for now

[Edited on March 25, 2009 at 6:34 PM. Reason : a]

3/25/2009 6:34:03 PM

^ no need for that, Omarbadu ghost edited his post to add a link. I didn't see it until my response.

Wtf, this is the first I've heard of this... I will be contacting Verizon tomorrow.

3/25/2009 6:41:00 PM

They can't do shit.

3/25/2009 6:43:30 PM

what do you expect them to do? the message they are sent is formatted in a way that makes it appear it's coming from your cellphone - they have no reason to believe otherwise

do you not think that if they could do something about this then they would....it's basically the same thing as spam email spoofing

3/25/2009 6:44:39 PM

Quote :

"Protecting users from SMS spoofing If a user can prove that their SMS sessions have been spoofed, they should contact both law enforcement and their cellular provider, who should be able to track where the SMS messages were actually sent from. A user may also modify the phone's settings so that only messages from authorized numbers are allowed. This is not always effective since hackers could be impersonating the user's friends as well."

From your link. So there's only a possibility they can track where they were sent from? Couldn't this be potentially fucked up, like my boss receiving an inappropriate one, rather than a silly one sent to a co-worker?

3/25/2009 6:47:02 PM

likewise it could present a problem if someone maliciously sent your boss a spoofed email appearing to come from your address saying fuck you i quit

it's a known problem and that's why some countries have laws regarding spoofed txts

just because law enforcement and your cell provider can track who sent it and where it came from - do you think they are going to put forth the effort unless there is some sort of legal reason they have to

3/25/2009 6:50:53 PM

Understood. So this is a common thing then? Am I that out of the loop? I mean, I have asked many people if they heard of this happening and the only info I've gotten has come from you guys.

3/25/2009 6:57:53 PM

it's not done that commonly as far as i know but there's no real reason for that - it's much more common to receive a spam txt/picture to your cellphone than some spoofed # - the fact that it was your # sent to another person you know means that it was done by someone that knows both of you

3/25/2009 7:00:18 PM

I wonder if Verizon can tell me the number the text came from so I can prank the douche bag I work with who sent it in the first place

3/25/2009 7:04:52 PM

errr yeah - report back on how receptive verizon tech support is to your idea

i'm sure they've got a SOP for spoofed msg tracking heh

3/25/2009 7:18:46 PM

Yes, I realize this is a long shot, I have dealt with customer no-service before, I just really want to prank the fucker back hard, whoever he/she is, and if I have to jump through some hoops, so be it.

3/25/2009 7:29:31 PM