Can someone else use my phone number?
Mobile phone numbers can legally be ported from one provider to another when you switch your mobile phone service, and can also be ported from one mobile phone to another when you upgrade or change devices. But with enough of your personal information, scammers can have your number ported to a device they possess.
It is called phone spoofing. Phone spoofing is when someone disguises the number they are calling or texting from by changing their caller ID. Some businesses do this legally and for legitimate reasons. But phone scammers around the world have also cottoned onto it.
Can multiple people share the same phone number? Yes, a single phone number can be shared across multiple users, cell phones, team members, colleagues, or family members.
Unfortunately, despite how easy it is to spoof anyone's number, it is nearly impossible to trace and detect who has been using your number. The spoofing numbers are randomly of selection, so you can't even take any extra precautionary measures to prevent your number from becoming a target.
Install an anti-spoofing app on your smartphone
You can protect your phone calls and text messages with an anti-spoofing app. These services typically focus on reducing access to your actual phone number by masking it with a secondary number (that you can often specify).
One of the easiest ways to see if your phone has been cloned is to check your location apps. Life360, Find My iPhone, the Android Device Manager, and Find My Mobile (Samsung) all show the location of your device. If someone is cloning the IMEI or EID number, your phone will show more than one location.
Most voicemail or message bank services can be accessed simply by calling them from your phone. If someone is spoofing your phone number, they will likely also have access to all of your messages.
Spoofing is relatively easy to do by individuals and companies which means that you can't always trust what the caller ID says when the phone call is received. Often a reverse caller ID check will simply redial the number displayed by the spoofing, not the actual number behind the call.
Your phone number is an easy access point for scammers and identity thieves. Once they know your number, they can use it to send you phishing texts, trick you into installing malware and spyware, or use social engineering attacks to get you to hand over your personal identifying information (PII).
“In today's world, it is extremely easy for hackers to wreak havoc on your life using your cell phone number,” says Hari Ravichandran, CEO of consumer cybersecurity company Aura. To protect your sensitive information, you should always think twice before sharing your phone number—especially in a public setting.
How does spoofing happen?
Spoofing is a cybercrime that happens when someone impersonates a trusted contact or brand, pretending to be someone you trust in order to access sensitive personal information. Spoofing attacks copy and exploit the identity of your contacts, the look of well-known brands, or the addresses of trusted websites.
Some spoofing services permit the anonymous caller or text sender to receive replies. In such instances, Rexxfield investigators can commonly trace the spoofed SMS message and also positively determine the individual responsible for the spoofing harassment, even out-of-court.
- 268: Antigua and Barbuda.
- 284: British Virgin Islands.
- 473: Grenada, Carriacou and Petite Martinique.
- 664: Montserrat.
- 649: Turks and Caicos Islands.
- 767: Commonwealth of Dominica.
- 809, 829, 849: Dominican Republic.
Our ruling: False. We rate the claim that dialing *#21# on an iPhone or Android device reveals if a phone has been tapped FALSE because it is not supported by our research.
*#21# This simple code let you find out whether your calls, messages, and other data are being diverted. The status of the different types of diversions that are taking place along with the number the information is being transferred to will be displayed on your phone's screen.
The short answer to this is yes. It's absolutely possible for someone to clone or even hack your SIM card. However, it's not that common – in fact installing spyware onto a victim's device is a much more common practice used by hackers.
Our ruling: False. We rate the claim that dialing *#21# on an iPhone or Android device reveals if a phone has been tapped FALSE because it is not supported by our research.
Dial *#21# and press Call shows the status of call forwarding for voice, data, fax, sms, sync, async, packet access, and pad access call forwarding enabled or disabled.
*#62# - With this, you can know if any of your calls - voice, data, fax, SMS etc, has been forwarded or diverted without your knowledge.
- Start by going to your "Settings" app and then choosing "Security & Location"
- Scroll around and look for the "Use Location" option and then toggle it to the "OFF" position.
