Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2018 November 6

Welcome to the Wikipedia Miscellaneous Reference Desk Archives
The page you are currently viewing is a transcluded archive page. While you can leave answers for any questions shown below, please ask new questions on one of the current reference desk pages.

November 6

Where is this phone number ?

The other night I got a weird phone call, all the caller said was "Hello" whenever I said hello. I ignored it & hung up. But When I looked at the screen the phone number was +00252617500655. I've never seen a number like that before & when I've tried to google it all I get is "Your search did not match any documents." Can anyone help me in identifying where thins phone number called from (as in which country, part of the world etc) ? Scotius (talk) 10:18, 6 November 2018 (UTC)

+00 is a typical international call prefix, and 252 is Somalia. Don't answer calls from Somalia. -- zzuuzz ^(talk) 10:21, 6 November 2018 (UTC)

Unless, of course, you are a Somali in exile, or have friends in Somalia...the suggestion seems a somewhat blanket ban. It is, however, a good idea to be cautious of phone calls from unknown numbers abroad. I searched for "scam calls from Somalia" (because scams can vary across place and time) and found this salutary warning. British phone companies refer to it as Wangiri fraud. --Carbon Caryatid (talk) 18:06, 6 November 2018 (UTC)

Why would you answer the phone from a number you don't recognize? ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 01:57, 7 November 2018 (UTC)

Several times in my life I have had job offers come to me that way. Though never internationally. HiLo48 (talk) 02:11, 7 November 2018 (UTC)

That's why we have an answering machine. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 02:34, 7 November 2018 (UTC)

Different people organise their lives in different ways Bugs. We are free to do that. 3 weeks ago I answered a call I didn't reocognise and found myself talking to an old acquaintance I hadn't spoken to in 30 years. Richard Avery (talk) 08:13, 7 November 2018 (UTC)

From Somalia? ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 11:50, 7 November 2018 (UTC)

The phone I got the call on was a mobile flip phone ( or what ever there called) & the problem with that phone is it automatically answers a call when I flip open the phone. So I only noticed the strange number after I flipped open the phone & the phone automatically answered the call. Scotius (talk) 12:20, 7 November 2018 (UTC)

My flip phone shows the calling number in a little window when the phone is closed. Maybe they don't all have that feature. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 13:04, 7 November 2018 (UTC)

@Scotius: I'm surprised that you are still using a Flip Phone, Current year and all that. Then I realize that I'm typing this from a Thinkpad X200 that's 10 years old at this point. Geartooth ^{Friendship is Magic!} 13:19, 7 November 2018 (UTC)

What it is, instead of getting a landline installed I just got a cheap mobile to use as the house phone. And to Baseball Bugs, my phone doesn't have an external screen, it has an internal screen but you can only see this one after you've opened the phone.Scotius (talk) 13:42, 7 November 2018 (UTC)

One way around that might be to leave the phone open. But that drains the power faster. I guess the best you can do is end such a call quickly. And then watch out for hacking in other places. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 13:47, 7 November 2018 (UTC)