Is it dodgy and how did they get my number

[ClaudeMyWinkleman]

Got woken up at 1am by a phone call, lady asking for me by name but either only got my first name correct or couldn't pronounce my surname. They quickly realised they had the wrong number with me tiredly whispering who is this, said sorry must have wrong number and hung up.

Now for the weirder bit, as usual I went to Google the number. No web results appear, only about 8 images all linked to an adult works profile.

I messaged the number asking who they are, response "its me lovely, your auntie x".

Oh wise people of mumsnet what's going on here and how did they get my number?

No idea how they got your number, but I suspect it's some sort of love/honeytrap scammer trying their luck. First of all, the time difference, and the fact 'auntie' is a pornified term commonly used in subcontinental Asia for a woman who is perceived as being sexually available, so it reeks of scam call.

Thank you for replying. It's so creepy they knew my first name as well though.

your personal details may have appeared in a data breach or are otherwise publicly accessible eg some people put their phone number on Facebook, linked in, online cvs etc. Search yourself online and see what comes up. Also have a look at this website to see if your data has been leaked anywhere:

haveibeenpwned.com/

Intriguing.

Probably got it from a purchased list of contacts. These sorts of things are stolen and proliferated all the time, so if you've ever singed up to anything, purchased anything or given a site or organisation your phone number along with your name then chances are it's on some compromised database somewhere.

Just out of curiosity, is your first name by any chance one that is used by people of both sexes? Reason I ask is that it might have been a sex/romance/love scam call expecting a male to pick up, hence the hasty retreat when a female voice answered.

*signed up, obvs

Definitely just a female name. Thank you for the logical thinking, it's obviously a scam. My middle of the night heavily pregnant brain was going in overdrive. Poor DH was about to get a very unwarranted Spanish inquisition

I never knew this existed, thank you! Luckily not showing a leaked number