A lot of people hate talking on the phone now and it’s one of many reasons people put their phone on mute.

The story gives you another reason to do it.

Check out what happened to this person and how she used her detective skills to put an end to the calls.

Someone Was Giving My Phone Number To Throw Off Debt Collectors and Solicitors. I Found Out Who Was Doing It And Directed Them to Contact Her

It started about a year ago with a campaign solicitation text saying:

“Hi Donna {fake name; I have a few friends named Karen and they are the nicest ladies you’d ever meet}!

This is the headquarters of (Candidate X). I’m running for (County Name & Office). Can we count on your vote?”

I would text back that they had a wrong number and get an apologetic response with a promise to remove my number.

It doesn’t look like the calls will ever stop coming.

But I continued to get political, as well as real estate solicitations:

“Hi Donna, I’m with XYZ Realtors. I was wondering if you were looking to sell your property at 123 Main Street?”

On top of that, I started getting calls from collection agents trying to reach Donna.

No matter how many times I said they had a wrong number, they kept calling.

These text numbers, based on their area codes, originated in the opposite end of the country where I live.

So OP uses her sleuthing skills to try to get to the bottom of it.

With just a first name, a partial address and an area code from that region, I went online to do a reverse address lookup.

I found a site where, when I typed in the start of an address, it brought up a picklist with possible combinations for the house number and street names.

I found an address that was in a town that was part of the area code where the texts came from.

Sure enough, the information pulled up Donna’s full name, her full address and cell phone number.

So I sent her the following text:

“Hello Donna. You don’t know me, but you apparently know my number.

Please stop giving it out to solicitors, collection companies and campaigners.

Thanks to online research, I have your name, address and phone number.

So I will say it again; STOP GIVING OUT MY NUMBER!”

I don’t know if this emboldened her because the texts kept coming.

So I simply forwarded them to her and texted:

“Whenever I get a solicitation in your name, I’m going to forward them to you.”

In addition, I would text solicitors back and provide them with Donna’s correct cell number.

I have not received a solicitation text since.

She finds a new use for automation, too!

As for the collectors, I have an app on my phone that converts text to speech so that I don’t have to talk directly with robocallers and the like.

Since I can preload text replies, I created one regarding Donna.

So whenever I got a collection call looking for Donna, I provided this automated response:

“You have the wrong number. This person, Donna X, has been giving out my phone number to deflect collectors from contacting her. I don’t know her or even live in her state, but I managed to get some information about her thanks to some online research. Her correct phone number is (XXX) XXX-XXXX.”

The collections calls have since stopped, as well.

So, Redditors, was I wrong to contact Donna and put her on alert? Or should I have just discreetly passed her number off to those trying to reach her?

Check out what people are saying.

Let’s hope this is true and OP wasn’t targeted.

I think it’s like this in Canada, too. Know the laws, folks! It makes life easier.

Wow, so they’re jerks and they’re stupid? Be careful. They could be dangerous.

Haha I didn’t see that one! We’re all detectives now.

Haha! I don’t think researching is their job, though. They’re probably not supposed to deviate from a strict set of procedures to avoid their company getting sued.

No one is anonymous anymore.

If you thought that was an interesting story, check this one out about a man who created a points system for his inheritance, and a family friend ends up getting almost all of it.