… how today’s society and networking has opened up everyone’s life.
I don’t know exactly how it is in the rest of the world, but here in Finland, if you have your phone number publicly registered, your life is an open book to anyone.
If you have a name and you send it in a text message to a certain number, you’ll receive a message back with all given names, registered address, phone numbers and providers. If you have a phone number and send that in a text to a certain number, you’ll get all given names, registered address, and providers. If you have a car license number and text that to a certain number, you’ll get the name of the car owner, address, everything. And since recently you can even request tax and income information about people by sending a text to a certain number.
And aside from the registered name of the phone you sent it from there’s no identification or legitimation necessary.
Yesterday my better half was called by a guy who had her name, home address AND work address and he said that he was from a flower store and had a bouquet of flowers to deliver to her and asked to deliver it to her work or home. She only had to confirm the exact house number, which she then gave.
The flowers would be delivered by the end of the day.
So after the first happy surprise (I hardly ever give her flowers 😉 ) and after the day had gone by without flowers, we started wondering.
So this morning my better half called the flower store and it appeared that this guy had called a good handful of people, but only in our neighborhood, with the same story.
Police report has been filed, but until now it’s unclear what the purpose of this mysterious caller was.
But he did have all this information.
Our home address, our names, her work address. And gullible as my better half is, she also gave the guy my phone number, because I was home the whole day…
I’m not totally trusting every one just like that, but I believe that if someone would’ve called me with a totally believable story like that, I also would’ve taken the bait -hook, line and sinker.
It’s a scary thought. With personal information being so accessible and people being able to get and other people so willing to give more personal information it can only lead to bad things…
Or…?
Well, I once had to convince a raging truck driver that it wasn’t my Audi that was parked downtown in front of a loading dock. I tried to tell him I wish I had an Audi but he didn’t seem to get it… He had asked for the phone number connected to the license plate at AKE and apparently punched in the wrong numbers.
I have my phone registered at my job, so getting my number doesn’t give the home address… so that’s a bit less publicly available. I’m not sure I want my work published either, but either one of those, the job it is.
The tax and income information is such a waste, why would anyone need to know how much money you make? Apart from the officials that have other access to the system. But your neighbours?
The car thing is a bit more useful I think. If you have a parked car that’s blocking a driveway or you’re buying a car and want to confirm the seller is the owner… then maybe there’s a point in it.
Well, he actually did not have my work address, but my name, phone number (apparently) and complete home address, which he wanted to “confirm”. And the flower shop he mentioned was one pretty much known to everybody in town. And when he heard you were home he had no hurry to hang up, he stuck to his story… so I’ve been thinking the motive can hardly be burglary…. beats me.