A call from someone with the number 1-555-555-5555, and the caller id name was "test."?

Question

I just received a phone call a few minutes ago. The name on the caller id appeared as "test" and the number was 1-555-555-5555. I was wondering what this means. Thanks to anyone who answers.

Answer 1

Distracted is on the right track when he mentioned the ability to change the caller ID number.  

First off, I will tell you that you received this call on your land line telephone since most cellphones only display the number information.

When it comes to home telephones or land line phones, your name information sits in a database which is called by the Caller ID service.  

There is a way for anyone to fake their caller ID number.  If I wanted to, I could make my caller ID number show as 1-555-555-5555.  

It's called caller ID spoofing and the technology is available to anyone.  The caller ID spoofing services I know of and use only allow the number to be changed and not the name so maybe this number was really a "test" from your telephone provider.

My point is that this call could have been a legit "test" call just as much as this could have been a spoofed call.  

http://www.horsebanger.com/how-to-change...

Answer 2

One of two options:

More than likely its a service tech out on the pole servicing your grid and before he's finished needs to make sure all numbers are working. The equipment used will dial multiple numbers at one time just to let him know if the job he has done was performed correctly.

The other option is that some people (such as myself) have the ability to program any number to show up on a caller id. Think of someone who would want to do this.