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Original poster

A random adult called my DD’s phone

83 replies

twosoups1972 · 12/03/2020 08:07

A unknown number rang on my 13 year old DD’s phone. She wasn’t in the room so I answered it.

It was an adult woman who said her name was ‘Karen’ who was talking about meeting up with dd and she knew DD’s name. I didn’t know what to say so I said I was DD’s mum and she apologised and said it was a wrong number.

I’m a bit freaked out that an adult has my DD’s number and knows her name. Advice please?

OP posts:
MollyButton · 12/03/2020 09:05

I get random calls for Sophie - who seems to have a phone number similar to mine - or hasn't changed it on her hospital records.
On my work phone I get calls for the person who last had that number including: from his bank, from the Taxi outside his house, and the dentist.

But you need to talk to your DD. How old is she? If she is 14+ you should not be answering it.
Maybe she is seeking counselling, advice for a friend, contraceptive advice...

DoubleAction · 12/03/2020 09:23

I think you need to report it, to have it logged just incase there are other issues with the same woman or something progressed with DD .

Have DD involved in the report. I suspect then you will find out who Karen is.

Original poster
twosoups1972 · 12/03/2020 09:35

I have reported it to safeguarding at school who have logged the number. Not sure if I should report to police too?

Dd is 13 and very sensible. She knows not to join any WhatsApp groups unless she knows everyone in the group.

I now wish I had pretended to be her and carried on the conversation to see where it led.

OP posts:
DoubleAction · 12/03/2020 09:40

Have you Googled the number? It's surprising how many come up with details of their business or something they were selling etc

tegucigalpa13 · 12/03/2020 09:42

Could it have been a friend’s parent who has your dd’s number in her phone alongside a number for a friend of the same name?

I have a sister, a hairdresser and two friends who share the same first name and regularly mix them up.

StillWeRise · 12/03/2020 09:43

good that you told the school
snapchat seems to be a really dodgy app, I have heard of strangers being able to contact people through snapchat

StillWeRise · 12/03/2020 09:44

also odd that the woman apologised and said it was a wrong number after you had said you were DDs mum

HermanHermit · 12/03/2020 09:46

What kind of call was it - phone or iMessage audio? If iMessage / messenger type of call I can understand more easily how a mistake can be made with a slightly incorrect email address (this on the basis of the recent emails my daughter received from a man whose daughter has the same name as mine and therefore presumably similar email address)

Original poster
twosoups1972 · 12/03/2020 09:47

I'm worried it was someone trying to groom kids Sad

@StillWeRise dd currently has very little SM, only TikTok (and I know that can cause problems too). She's just turned 13 and wants Insta and Snapchat but I'm saying no for now.

OP posts:
Ragwort · 12/03/2020 09:48

Ring the number back and ask her?

I don't get this mass hysteria about phone calls (and yes, I have a teenager), but then I grew up in the age of frequent wrong numbers. Years ago someone called my mum and asked to speak to Susie, my mum explained that Susie wasn't in - the caller then asked to speak to Charlie - at that point my mum said 'are you sure you've got the right number? Susie is a three year old at nursery and Charlie is our pet dog'. Caller was just trying to reach a couple with the same names Grin.

HopeYouStepOnALego · 12/03/2020 10:00

Have you tried putting the number into WhatsApp to see if it brings anyone up?

bemoreeverything · 12/03/2020 10:05

dd currently has very little SM, only TikTok (and I know that can cause problems too). She's just turned 13 and wants Insta and Snapchat but I'm saying no for now.

Get her off TikTok it is the absolute worst. Snapchat and instagram are much better in terms of keeping her safe and carry the least exposure to horrific things. TikTok will show her everything

Original poster
twosoups1972 · 12/03/2020 10:05

My older dd did a quick search for the number and nothing came up. The only thing I can think of is that last year at the start of Year 7, there was a problem with WhatsApp and a whole load of girls were added to a random group with dodgy stuff being sent round. School flagged it up, dd immediately removed herself and deleted the group.....but someone could have saved her number and kept it....

OP posts:
BigRedBoat · 12/03/2020 10:13

Could she have been calling to try and book some kind of appointment?

OhLook · 12/03/2020 10:16

Tiktok is much worse than Instagram!

OchAyeThaNoo · 12/03/2020 10:17

Have you searched the number in Facebook? I've identified a couple of people by their numbers that way. Doesn't always work but it's worth a try.

mrbob · 12/03/2020 10:25

It sounds like it is MUCH more likely that this is someone’s parent who has 2 people with the same name in their phone and called the wrong one. If the other one was an adult then she would realise it was the wrong one when you said it was her mum

TheHarryFormerlyKnownAsPrince · 12/03/2020 10:29

My first thought would be some kind of support / health / counselling / mentoring service keeping confidentiality

coconuttelegraph · 12/03/2020 10:37

I assume by unknown number you mean a number not stored inher phone rather an it coming up with the words unknown number.

If that's the case why don't you call it and ask who it is?

Anydreamwilldo12 · 12/03/2020 10:37

Get older dd to ring her back and put it on speakerphone so you can hear the conversation

Mummyoflittledragon · 12/03/2020 10:53

You have been given some very plausible explanations. I have 3 Amys in my contact list for example. I could easily call the wrong one. I also have some of my dds friends in my contacts and have occasionally called them / they me when wanting to talk to dd.

Original poster
twosoups1972 · 12/03/2020 10:54

I just tried to call the number from my landline (with-holding the number) and it's gone to voicemail.

Definitely not some sort of appointment, dd is young for her age and very shy, she won't even speak to people in shops. She wouldn't have gone and arranged an appointment for herself.

OP posts:
Original poster
twosoups1972 · 12/03/2020 10:56

@Mummyoflittledragon that doesn't really explain it. I don't have dd's friends in my contacts and I'm pretty sure her friends' mums would have her number. In any case she has a small group of friends and I know the mums.

OP posts:
bemoreeverything · 12/03/2020 10:56

I would be concerned it's another parent. A parent of someone your DD has had a run in with. This happened to my DD years ago, the other parent thought she had the right to contact and reprimand her. It was done by landline, but the same idea.

Hipsterjoe · 12/03/2020 11:04

When you google the name put it in speech marks - eg “01234556678” - to get better results