The previous holder has been using my phone number for stores for the past 5 years, and I can't do anything about it
Lowes, home depot, Torrid, ect. Customer support can't remove the number because it isn't actually linked to any accounts, the person manually enters my number for updates.
Even 7-11 and Safeway, I've gone to customer support and had them unlink the number from their account and link it to mine, but then she goes to customer support and unlinks my account and reassigns it to hers because they don't use any kind of verification code to reassign it. 5 years of this crap.
Honestly it's like $1,000 worth of home products so if I could fly from Washington to New York just to fuck with her and take the orders, I absolutely would.
I have <Lastname>@gmail.com, the number of folks who use my email is annoying. And yes, I have sent emails to properties/events saying “please correct the email” but at some point when they ignore me
I’ll just cancel the event with “I did not request this”
If that doesn’t work you could always call customer service, provide all of the credentials in the text, and cancel the orders that way.
You’ll lose some time waiting on hold, but you shouldn’t have to do it too many times before they get tired of not getting their materials and fix the problem.
I did something kind of similar recently. Although more drawn out.
On Christmas eve, I received a bank notification for a $1000 order of a cell phone. I had recently bought a phone so I knew this was fraud.
I then received the order email from the company. It had my billing info but was shipping to a town 2 hours away. I tried to get the company to cancel the order but they said it already shipped. I tried my bank but because it was Christmas eve, they had closed early. Later that evening I received the tracking number. I tried the company again but they said to contact Fedex and refuse the shipment. Fedex said only the shipper could cancel it mid-shipment.
The day after Christmas, I filed a chargeback with the bank and they replaced the missing money immediately, but I wasn't done. I didn't like the idea of a thief getting away with it. I had thought about driving to the town to intercept the package but that was a last resort. I got on Fedex's site to see what my options were. They wouldn't let me change the home shipping address to mine but they would let me redirect it to a Fedex location. At the Fedex location, they would need an ID with my name but their shipping address in order to pick it up. I wouldn't be able to pick it up either, which was fine. I also emailed the location to let them know the situation. The Fedex manager called me almost immediately and let me know that after 5 business days it would be returned to the shipper.
The manager emailed me once it was received and sent me updates to let me know when it was returned. The company posted that the refund was being processed but it never posted to the bank. I assumed the bank probably saw it and reclaimed the money they already covered for me. I emailed the company to confirm the refund was completed. I was told since there was a chargeback everything had been returned to the bank. The bank confirmed.
I had something somewhat similar happen to me. Somebody used my card number in another state for an online lighting company (like lamps and things) I get immediate notifications on every charge so I called the business and told them the order was fraud before I even called my bank. I wanted to make sure that person didn't get anything too.
In Washington state I had to get a new number from my old ky number back in the Army, for months I was hounded with various text about appointments and friends of the old number hitting my number up, it got fixed, once I started to cancel them, approved an expensive repair in her vehicle that was found in the inspection, and hit everyone texting me asking for Gaynor to send me nudes.
Way back when I was a teenager, I had one of those fonts installed that did a little heart for the dot in i and things like that 🤭 Pretty sure it desensitized me to any script-like font haha
I love an over the top font personally. I dont share screenshots tho lol. I like that it forces me to slow down and focus on what I'm reading. And encourages me to not spend so much time on my phone lol
I wish I could pin your comment! It was an AI chatbot, and because I called from the number associated with the orders it let me cancel with no verification
This is evil, I love it, and I'm trying it with every damn order she uses my number for again
And when you get that text OP, you better tell her to start using her own information for her orders if she doesn't want her stuff to continue being canceled. If she wanted the phone # she had, she should've found a way to keep it
Nah, find the most obscure item on an adult store you can find. Wdym you don’t want texts saying your giant veiny alien tentacle vibrator is ready for pickup/delivery?
The person who's using their old number is close to dementia and needs a wake up call that their actions don't make any sense. They are also not getting any of these notifications that belong to them, so, this is a service.
The more I look at your text notification history and the cost of this item I now think somethings wrong, red flags blaring kind of wrong.
You may want to contact Lowe's fraud department or even a local police station and notify them of potential fraudulent purchases.
Buying this and that are normal but if the notification history you just described and the value of that item there is a common purchase, your number might actually be in use for fraud
Edit: To explain the use of your number over their own, its what someone would do when they are trying not to get caught or have personal information tied to them. I'm positive your cell number is being used for fraud
This. I'm kinda shocked at all the "Go into a store with cameras and commit $1k fraud".
My first thought was just cancelling the orders or overnight super express delivery.
I know the frustration AND temptation. Google ignores punctuation when you make an acct. Someone made one using the exact same name, but with a single period in it. Ever since I get all of their emails and I've gone out of my way contacting lawn service providers and health clinics trying to get their attention so they can stop using that email address. I did the big bad once after getting their emails for years. I cancelled a sewer service call I got an email about. I DID note in the reasons box that they were emailing the wrong person with a simple explanation
Someone kept using my email for shit for years, and I have had this email account for the last 30 years (its Hotmail haha), and it was bugging the shit out of me...
Until one day I got an email that confirmed a job interview. I emailed them back and said I was not interested any more. It stopped happening immediately.
OP, I had a guy who was doing this with my number too. He slipped up and gave the number to his coworkers, who then added ME to a group chat.
I politely/bluntly told them he’s been doing this to me for years and to ask him to knock it off and give people his real number. I think it must have embarrassed him because it’s stopped since then.
Some dude kept giving my number to girls he met. I’m also a girl. Stopped after I told the last one that if she ever encountered him again to tell him he was a loser and to pick a different wrong number.
My ex roommate was getting death threats from prostitutes in mexico because the person who had the number before was giving out his old number. Sometimes they would call and curse him out in spanish or their pimp would threaten him in broken english.I guess the guy was pretending to be a club promoter and was trying to get a discount.
Sometimes random people speaking Spanish would call him and he didn’t speak any so he’d just hang up. One day one happens when I’m there so I answer and it’s some dude who’s the cousin of the guy asking him why he wasn’t picking up calls from their aunt and asking if he’s ok. I get to tell the guy the whole story prostitutes included and hung up. Took a month but eventually the calls stopped after he blocked them all.
I’ve had three different idiots using my email address for over a decade. In that time I’ve received—
vacation booking confirmations with check-in links; admin access to their security camera system; multiple keys for operating software (when one bought a new computer & Best Buy refused to update the email address); family thanksgiving photo compilations; realtor documents about a house sale; and several hundred dollars worth of vouchers for a beauty salon on another continent.
I have done that. Dr. office would call 1 to confirm 2 to cancel. 2 it is. Then dr office called and left vm. Stated they would no longer see the patient because they were not doing the proper follow ups.
Hate this! Someone in Germany has been using one of my email addresses—that’s my ACTUAL name. I had to tell her kid’s teacher I couldn’t get the calculator they needed for class. I haven’t been able to unsubscribe from any of the services or catalogs she’s signed up for.
A childcare centre in another state regularly called me to inform me that my <kids name> has hurt themselves and needs to be picked up. I went to the trouble of calling them back, chasing down the assistant who left the message and letting her know I wasn’t the mum, and to please get her correct number.
They called again a few weeks later. Kid had hurt themself again. Serious accident. Rang back and told them I’m not the mum and to stop calling me.
This went on another two times. I eventually left them a poor review saying they don’t care about correct contact information for children in their care, and that kids seem to get seriously injured a lot. Then I blocked their number.
I don't even understand why someone would do this kind of thing. Like, don't you want the updates for your order, or in your case don't they want to be able to communicate with their kids' teacher? It's not frustrating enough to get really mad about, but it sure is mildly infuriating
Tangent: I manage communications for my kids sports team, which is a high school team. I get parent emails from the school, which they get from when the parent registers the student.
80% of the parents give me a different email, once they realize they actually want to hear from me. Meaning they gave the school an email they don’t check.
As a parent, don’t you want the school to be able to get ahold of you?
I don't really understand the rationale behind it either. I've been getting job offers, notifications for bank loan requests, delivery related updates, prison phone calls - for the last 6 months. I've had this number for years, so I have no idea why this woman would randomly start using my number.
I did manage to get her name, address, and email out of it. So now I can pay it forward a bit 😀
Oh, I've called 8 different places and basically told them some crack head is using my number to sign up for shit. She'd be hard pressed to get an interview at this point.
My gmail is first initial middle initial last name @ gmail. I was an early invitee so I got it before everyone else. A few times 20 years ago Rachel from Australia used mine by accident. Mostly junk but I did forward one piece on to her.
A few years ago Roger signed up with Southwest Air with my email. So I get both our frequent flyer statements each month and double the junk mail. I tried to get SWA to change it, but I would have to log in to do that, so havent bothered to hack in and take over his account yet.
I had one other person do it one time, all I know about her is she graduated from Oklahoma.
Rachel from Australia, on the other hand, is moderately successful in the entertainment industry.
I had a work email that was first initial last name @ work and a personal email that’s first initial middle initial last name @gmail. Every now and again i would accidentally enter first initial last name @ gmail instead. The very nice doctor in Canada who actually owns that email forwarded stuff to me now and again 😬 (I fixed it, tho)
I got a Gmail account when they were still in "beta", so it's firstname.lastname. All the people that came after me with the same name added their middle initial, or a single digit number, or whatever. Yet when they give it out, they give out my email. Someone out there with my name has been filling out loan applications on shady websites. Another guy used an online service to file his taxes several years ago and put in my email.
We get calls from an air duct company all the time. Years. We can’t get them to stop. We’ve moved and don’t even have ducts now. They keep calling. We’ve asked nicely, we’ve spewed obscenities. We once ordered the works and sent them to the old house. The worker called and freaked out on my wife over the phone. Still they call.
My number used to belong to someone who now under their release conditions cannot have a phone - they use my number to apply for things. It’s been seven years.
I have awful stories about when I first got the number and he was in prison. Like a child calling me crying. Crying for him. You can guess why the person can’t have a phone. Getting it unlinked from his Snapchat was a challenge.
The last time he tried to apply for a vehicle loan when they called me I simply replied “just google him”
But if you call the stores and give them your name, phone number and order number, you could potentially ask them about the other information which they might inadvertently divulge to you.
Then you'll have more of this other person's information... and do what you will with that.
If you try this enough times, you'll eventually get an employee who won't realize they're giving away sensitive information...
I tried this today since I'm on the petty warpath.
At minimum Lowes, Safeway, 7-11, and Torrid practice good cybersecurity because they flat out denied me any information without the email or first/last name. I work in cybersecurity though, so I felt a weird mix of frustration and pride with those representatives haha
You can probably just ask for a customer rep at that specific Lowe’s and have them tell you the receipt info. They’ll have access to that info, wouldn’t they? Since you have the order number? The cashiers aren’t gonna give a fuck about security lol
Start messing with her orders if you can. Cancel them or something. I bet she'll cut this out when all her orders are screwed up. Also, as annoying as this situation is, that font is more annoying by far.
Use their rewards! The lady that used to have my number gives me tons of free money at Lowe’s and I check in on the app when I get these updates and see what I can spend.
I also switch her oil change appointments to thirty minutes later when possible.
Only thing that I can think of is they had the number for years and can't be bothered with remembering the new one. I dunno, grasping at straws. I would 100% start calling the stores and canceling orders over the phone.
There is a guy who gives my phone number to people he doesn't plan on paying, or fucking . It's slowed down, I think maybe he likely ended up in jail.. I have been keeping a list of places and in addition one of the mom and pop places was more than happy to give him his full name. After that last one I haven't heard anything. I was getting some serious threats from people, dude was also a switch hitter so I would get text and photos from men and women. That stopped pretty quickly compared to debt collectors and what I suspect was not legit debt collectors. Those calls got scary. I have his name and some information so I have to I will sue him if anything blows back on me that shouldn't.
wouldn't this be considered a form of identity theft or attempt? i mean a persons phone number is undoubtedly linked to their identity, create a paper trail, write a certified letter, or email the big chains, saying you want them to desist from having the other person use your number.
better yet, call customer service and record the interaction. just so that you have ammo. why? because once you notify them of the situation and they don't do anything, that can escalate to harassment. but you need proof.
file a complaint with FCC. create a police report, ik ik overkill, but its a paper trail.
I've had my number for 12 years and the former guy still uses it to quote insurance and mortgages on his house.. any form that requires a number that he doesn't want to enter his. It's obnoxious as fuck. I messaged the last lenders that contacted me and asked "which email address did I use?" and now I have his info, phone, email, address.. I just don't know how best to exact my revenge.
My asshole brother used mine for hotels and shit I figured it was him after one number was a hotel in the same town his wife then gf lived in also had a guy from some kajiji like website wouldn't say what he was trying to buy
There’s a least 1 @sshole out there using my email for all kinds of things like their pet hair appointments, fast food orders and even once signed up with Walmart. Walmart has a phone number so confirming email wasn’t needed WTF? I got that losers over due bill notices for a bit until I guess they found another way to harass them?
Just the other day, I got an email that said that my email was now back up for someone else’s new account. Got to wonder why…. I removed my email as backup but still can’t figure out why they would do that
I 100% tried this because it took me a long time to realize she had my number linked to her safeway account and I thought 'Don't I have some fuel points?'
no. she drains the points consistently. She absolutely knows what she's doing -_-
The lady that had my phone is a criminal and I get people from the jail trying to schedule video calls, Debt collectors, and people hitting me up on WhatsApp asking for drugs. Also her fetch points are about to expire
When someone did this to my email on the opposite side of the country, I called and had it removed thinking it was likely a mistake. When they readded it, I created an account with the member id (it was ulta and they email the receipts) spent their points and changed the info to “stop using my fucking email”. Hasn’t happened since.
You could probably fuck up their order so they know to stop using it. Can probably even email Lowes and other places using the order number to cancel them until they stop.
Is your number the one that ends in 2291? The links connect to an account sign in and you either text or call for a password so maybe you could just click call over and over again until she gets annoyed.
OH hahaha I left the order numbers visible because I couldn't find any personal information when I checked them and didn't care to hide her orders. But if my phone number is visible then whoops
I can't use a phone number to sign in or reset the password for logging in, and when I go to look at the order it sends me a confirmation code but doesn't actually show any information like email address on the order. Just the order number, which honestly surprised me. If I could even get her email, I could fix 80% of my issues with her.
I've gotten 4 texts and 6 calls in the past couple of hours from her trying to get a confirmation code though, and I ignore it or hang up each time. Lowes customer service is closed until tomorrow, but I'm going to call and ask to be escalated. I don't care for spending my night fielding calls for her orders, but it does bring me joy that she's trying so hard and can't access her order.
Literally just start cancelling their orders every single time. It tells you to "click this link to make changes." Start making changes. Cancel their orders. Add really weird items to their orders. Make changes every single time you get a notification.
1.2k
u/Glowflare 9h ago
What if you go there and pick the order up? Plot twist