I got a crazy phone call this morning

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This morning I woke up to my cell phone ringing with an unfamiliar number. I didn't feel like answering what could be a potentially serious call being half awake, so I let it ring and then checked the voice mail.

The number was 905-481-0393.

What I heard was one of the scariest things of my life. It sounded like a collaboration between Merzbow and The Books. There was a layer of pure noise and on top of that were various sampled sounds. I'd hear the mumbling of conversation, suddenly a full on scream from somebody else, another voice say something inaudable, and other unrecognizable sounds. The entire thing had a certain rythm to it.

After Googling the number, I couldn't find anything out except that 905 is the area code for Ontario, Canada. I couldn't find that exact number anywhere on the internet. So, I tried calling it back, and my phone won't let me call it. I just get a "beep-beep-beep, this number cannot be dialed as entered. Please try again." I asked a friend in New York to try it too, and he had the same error, which is odd since he calls friends in the 905 area code frequently.

Can anybody here get through? I'm really curious what it was. Did the NSA hack my cell phone this morning? Did some Canadian terrorist cell of Al-Qaeda or AIDS Wolf send me an encrypted message?

― Mickey (modestmickey), Sunday, 8 January 2006 18:51 (twenty years ago)

You'd better forward that message to someone else within a week otherwise a scary Japanese girl will come out of your phone and kill you.

― chap who would dare to work for the man (chap), Sunday, 8 January 2006 19:14 (twenty years ago)

Yeah, it was kind of like that!

― Mickey (modestmickey), Sunday, 8 January 2006 19:20 (twenty years ago)

I've been receiving a phone call from a 614 area code that has been leaving, on average, 7 voicemails a day for the past week, all voicemails being a "CHKHEEEEEEEEEEEEeeeee..." sound lasting the entire possible vm duration. When I try to answer it or call it back, I get the same sound. I think I'm being stalked by a horny robot.

― robots like to fuck, Sunday, 8 January 2006 19:24 (twenty years ago)

Dude have you ever heard of modems or fax machines?

― GET EQUIPPED WITH BUBBLE LEAD (ex machina), Sunday, 8 January 2006 19:44 (twenty years ago)

Me or him?

If me, I've never heard of a fax machine that makes human voices before.

― Mickey (modestmickey), Sunday, 8 January 2006 20:10 (twenty years ago)

Him.

― GET EQUIPPED WITH BUBBLE LEAD (ex machina), Sunday, 8 January 2006 20:18 (twenty years ago)

This wasn't a modem or a fax machine noise. There are, you know, fluctuations and shit. This is like, white noise + pink noise + brown sound or something.

― i swear to god, robots are fucking, Sunday, 8 January 2006 20:32 (twenty years ago)

i got a text message a few weeks ago from a number i didn't know and all it said was "I'M OUTSIDE". i was totally freaked out. i called the number back and the guy on the answering machine's name was also jason which also freaked me out

― jaxon (jaxon), Sunday, 8 January 2006 20:42 (twenty years ago)

905 is the area code for the toronto suburbs

― s1ocki (slutsky), Sunday, 8 January 2006 21:41 (twenty years ago)

Will nobody try calling that number for me? I'm dying to find out what's on the other end.

― Mickey (modestmickey), Sunday, 8 January 2006 21:58 (twenty years ago)

Just tried it: "We're sorry. Your call did not go through. Please try again..."

― jergins (jergins), Sunday, 8 January 2006 22:24 (twenty years ago)

i've gotten weird random calls from 905 as well. something's afoot in Canada...

― latebloomer: Let's just say I do for bullshit what Stonehenge did for Rocks (lat, Sunday, 8 January 2006 22:35 (twenty years ago)

I used to live in the 905. I can vouch for the general wrongness of the entire area code. You're very smart for not answering anything from there!

― Thermo Thinwall (Thermo Thinwall), Sunday, 8 January 2006 22:42 (twenty years ago)

The 905 seems extremely sketchy. I suspect there are dangerous forces at work here.

― Mickey (modestmickey), Sunday, 8 January 2006 23:28 (twenty years ago)

The weirdest part is that nobody can call the number back. I don't know anything about phone technology. How can it be that there is a number that can call you, but nobody can return it?

― Mickey (modestmickey), Sunday, 8 January 2006 23:29 (twenty years ago)

I think payphones are like that now. It's not too hard to set up a line for outgoing calls only.

― Thermo Thinwall (Thermo Thinwall), Sunday, 8 January 2006 23:52 (twenty years ago)

I got a weird call from an unknown number this morning too. Turns out it was my Mum calling me from the opticians.

― Lara (Lara), Sunday, 8 January 2006 23:58 (twenty years ago)

It could be a Voice-over-IP gateway which doesn't allow inbound calls, or the termination point of a PABX, or any number of other things. Also, the caller ID could have been easily forged, so it could have been your neighbour trying to freak you out and filming your reaction through the window.

― Andrew (enneff), Monday, 9 January 2006 00:35 (twenty years ago)

my sister used to call me using a calling card. sometimes it would show "unknown number" but other times it would show random phone numbers (there was once a phone number that i traced to tennessee i think!)

― tres letraj (tehresa), Monday, 9 January 2006 00:42 (twenty years ago)

It might have been me or the person pretending to be me or maybe the other way around.I can't recall the reason for the call except to prank your lame ass. Sorry.

― dawg sez (dawg sez), Monday, 9 January 2006 00:56 (twenty years ago)

Voip sounds like a good point, as VOIP calls can sound really warped and choppy/hollow/distorted on a bad bandwidth connection.

― Trayce (trayce), Monday, 9 January 2006 00:58 (twenty years ago)

This totally sounds like my new band!

― Sasha (sgh), Monday, 9 January 2006 01:33 (twenty years ago)

Oh, is that what bad VoIP/Skype/whatever calls sound like? I wonder if that's it. Is there any way to trace where it came from at all?

― Mickey (modestmickey), Monday, 9 January 2006 01:55 (twenty years ago)

i get lots of sexy text messages in french from some number in algeria!

― POOP BITCH (Mandee), Monday, 9 January 2006 02:14 (twenty years ago)

I get sms spam from Video Ezy in Kalgoorlie. If you know where I am and where Kalgoorlie is you'll know how weird this is.

― Trayce (trayce), Monday, 9 January 2006 03:18 (twenty years ago)

i used to get calls from that same area code, too. except it was 2-3 calls a day of dead silence. it was some telemarketing company whose computer kept auto dialing my number (at least this is what the phone company said).

― Grell (Grell), Monday, 9 January 2006 06:14 (twenty years ago)

I think it's some kind of routing number. I just had a friend call me from South America, and that's the number that showed up on my caller ID, so it's probably a prepaid phone company's calling card transfer number or some crap like that.

― JoeR, Friday, 13 January 2006 04:12 (twenty years ago)

lonely toronto comma man

― A BOLD QUAHOG (ex machina), Friday, 13 January 2006 04:40 (twenty years ago)

I wonder who called me? Man it would suck to use minutes on an expensive phone card just to leave your terrifying avant-noise voice mail on the wrong number.

― Mickey (modestmickey), Friday, 13 January 2006 05:37 (twenty years ago)

I agree with JoeR. I just got a call from a friend in the Philippines, and that's the number that shows up in the ID.

― Osbasso, Friday, 13 January 2006 18:25 (twenty years ago)

I too got around ten phone calls from this number yesterday but when i answered there was no answer from the other side.Actually i got calls to both my cell and home phone from the same number.I tried to call back but it was beeping as if engaged.Its weird.

― Aduna, Thursday, 19 January 2006 16:52 (twenty years ago)

four years pass...

hmm, I googled the phone number in the original post and found this thread about a Nigerian scammer who hung out on dating sites making sexy talk and pretending he needed $$$$ to overcome ridiculous family tragedies:

bonita says: [Jan 27, 2006 at 08:05 PM]
this is the same man that tried to scam me...he was from texas..john smith....sent me these same pictures and pics of his son mart....he also told me that he was robbed at the airport......a week ago...he emailed me and told me him and his son were in the hospital....mart was in a coma....they were both havin surgery...he needed money.......they both had to have their appendix out......now lets get real.......
xilbup1802 says: [Jun 19, 2006 at 07:52 AM]
flukn4✧✧✧@ya✧✧✧.c✧✧ contacted me as Alfred Wills (Freddy) Said he was from the UK (London) and travelling to Africa to claim custody of his 11 year old son from his divorced wife. He decided to "stay" when he found work as a civil engineer there for the time being. Also had an email address @worldmedic.com that no longer seems to work. SCUMBAG!
mary S. says: [Jun 25, 2006 at 06:44 AM]
This Idiot is now going by the name of John Williams! He contacted me on Plenty Of Fish dating site. he told me that he was a widow, with a son named Keith. He was in africa selling computers and kieth had an accident. he couldn't get medical help for keith. He wanted me to send him money to save his son's life! I just got an email from him yesterday! He is using an email address as john_williams2✧✧✧@ya✧✧✧.c✧✧ .His phone number is suppose to be 0112348020761286 he says he is in Ikeja. he wanted to send me money orders to cash for him and wire him the money! He is NUTS he scared me by telling me that he LOVED me and wanted to marry me! I may be a widow, and vunerable, but not stupid! Get him behind bars as quick as possible! Thank you for this site! You are awsome, I have been scammed by 2 guys from here on this list! Thanks for the great job you do!
Anon says: [Jan 02, 2006 at 06:02 PM]
also goes by the name Ferdinand Smith...he is on Americansingles.com under that name. heres 2 numbers he uses for that name 905-481-0393 and heres the nigerian number 234-802-9838477. this guy sure gets around. hes on yahoo too under the name ferdinand_smith2717

― tickle me lmao (unregistered), Sunday, 29 August 2010 01:07 (fifteen years ago)

Like 4 years ago late at night my friends tried to prank call a number near our area code that ended with FUCK, so 330-633-3825. It immediately picked up and started making banging noises and occasionally voices and laughter would jump out of the ruckus, and after 4 exactly minutes hung up. After calling it awhile we started hearing that "BING! GOING UP!" elevator voice. So we think we found the number of an elevator phone.

― Mt. David, Sunday, 29 August 2010 03:58 (fifteen years ago)

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