Recieved a call from an old lady..is this a scammed?

[Mystical1981]

Last week I recieved a call from an number i didn't recognise I phoned the number back and an old lady answered the phone I said I'm returning your call she said i haven't called anyone i said you did you called me she said no it's wasn't me she then hung up. Today I recieved a call from another unknown number (came up as a mobile number and norlt the same number as last week) again i didn't answer but I did call back and again an old lady answered the phone. I said I'm just returning your call again she said i didn't call you i have only just got in. I hung up but I recognised that the voice was the same old ladys voice that called me last week. She didn't ask me any questions or want anything so I can't think why she keeps calling. Does this sound like a scam? Anyone else had this?

I’ve had this but it was random old people leaving incessant voicemails! I think your phone number has been spoofed so scammers are using it to look like a legit UK number. They’re calling targets and then those targets try to call back. It’s mostly old people because only old people call numbers they don’t recognise, I think (I wouldn’t call back an unknown number unless I had a gun to my head!)

She's phoning your number thinking it's the number of a friend or relative.

She has either written it down incorrectly or remembered it incorrectly.

Then when you phone her she doesn't recognise your voice and says she hasn't phoned you.

I suspect this will go on until she tells the person she wants to talk to that she's been phoning them, they say she hasn't and hopefully discover she has the wrong number and correct it.

I don;'t know that you can call something a scam if no money changes hands, can you? Or if you are being deprived of something you've paid money for? So I'd only say it was likely a scam if the elderly lady said she needed you to pay for something for her, or order something for her and she'll pay you back. Someone calling the wrong number is just a mistake, surely?

Why do you call them back? I never understand this. I barely answer the phone to people I know. I certainly aren't ringing people when I don't even know who they are.

I answered my phone to an unknown number the other day and it was a man who said that he was just returning my call. I hadn't phoned him and we were both as confused as each other as he had just phoned back from the missed call he had. I assumed it was some kind of scam somewhere else using my number but no idea what to do about it.

Scammers can disguise their number as a regular mobile number to make it more likely that you'll pick up the phone. So it could be that it's the old lady's number but she isn't actually the one calling you. Or she's got the wrong number for someone she knows and is dialling it wrong. Happened to me, too - I've called people back who claimed they didn't call me and had people call me who insisted I had phoned them first. Either way, the old lady isn't trying to scam you.

I've had this happen as well OP. No idea what was going on with it, must be a setup for some sort of scam or someone using a fake number or something. The one I had kept calling me after I returned the call, and sent me loads of texts saying I called first even though I was returning the call.
To those who never return calls from numbers they don't recognise, how do you ever get appointments, job interviews etc you were waiting for if you don't manage to answer straight away?!

I would not call back numbers personally if they have not left a voicemail. It does show to scammers that the number is active.

In this case I suspect that this woman has taken down someone number wrong rather than trying to scam you.

Unless someone's left you a voicemail and you know why they called, don't call random numbers back.

To those who never return calls from numbers they don't recognise, how do you ever get appointments, job interviews etc you were waiting for if you don't manage to answer straight away?!

Does voicemail not exist in your world?

I received a phone call recently from a number that I called back and left a message. The guy called me back to say that he had not called me. The number also had appeared as 'scam number' when I did a search online. I don't know how this works.

Ooh interesting, I've had 2 calls from the same mobile number this afternoon, no message left.
I've not returned the call and when I'**ve tried to search the number it hasn't come back with any results.
I've already blocked it but wonder if this was a scam call!

Obviously if I am waiting on an important call, I'd answer incoming calls but generally I wouldn't engage with any unknown calls. I also always tell anyone I do any business with to email or text. I hate phone calls anyway.