Amisdialed call orwrong number is atelephone call ortext message to an incorrecttelephone number. This may occur because the number has been physically misdialed, the number is simply incorrect, or because thearea code or ownership of the number has changed. InNorth America,toll-free numbers are a frequent source of wrong numbers because they often have a history of prior ownership.[1] In theUnited Kingdom, many misdialed calls have been due topublic confusion over the dialing codes for some areas.[2][3]
Therecipient of a wrong number is usually unknown to thecaller. This aspect has been used insocial science experiments designed to study the willingness of people to help strangers, and the extent to which this is affected by characteristics such asrace. This experimental method is known as the "wrong-number technique".[4]
The Emily Post Institute recommends that the recipient of atext message to a misdialed number respond with, "Sorry, wrong number."[5] A fraud expert recommends not responding or engaging at all with messages from unknown numbers, to avoidtext message scams that start with an innocent-looking message from a stranger.[6]
On alandline, wrong numbers incur no toll for the recipient but do represent the annoyance of answering an unwanted call. This may be problematic forshift workers who are asleep during the day. Oncellphones in countries where mobile plans charge for incoming calls, a wrong number may cost the subscriber one or more minutes.
Sources of misdialled calls are similar to sources oftypographical error:
The use of local telephone numbers in mainstream fictional works is problematic as the number will often belong to one or more real subscribers in various otherarea codes. Well-known fictional numbers like867-5309 (Jenny's number, from a popular 1982 song) and 776-2323 (God's number in the 2003 cinema release ofBruce Almighty) continue to receive misdialled calls years later.
This is often avoided by using reserved or invalid numbers (such as555 (telephone number)), or by displaying a real area code and number which belongs to the publisher of the fictional work.
Inadvertent calls toemergency telephone numbers are problematic as, if the dispatcher is uncertain of the nature of a presumed emergency, police are rapidly dispatched to the address on anenhanced 9-1-1 or 1-1-2 call.[7] Most often, these calls tie up resources which need to be available for emergency response - especially if the caller is silent or disconnects the call without acknowledging the error. InRaleigh, North Carolina, a 2012 change which forced subscribers to dialthe 919 area code on local calls caused a 20% increase in total calls to9-1-1, a result of frequent misdials.[8]
Misdialled calls are problematic fortoll-free telephone number subscribers, who must pay long-distance tolls to receive the calls and pay staff to answer misdirected enquiries. A small, local business whose toll-free number differs in one digit from a large national franchise will typically receive multiple misdialled calls daily.
In some cases, commercial rivals have engaged in wilfultyposquatting to profit from misdial traffic. If 1-800-HOLIDAY (+1-800-465-4329) isHoliday Inn, an unscrupulous vendor could register 1-800-H0LIDAY (+1-800-405-4329, the same number with 'o' replaced by 'zero'), resell bookings for rooms in the same or a rival hotel and collect a profitabletravel agent's commission.[9]
Some franchise chains have resorted to the defensive registration of complementary numbers, the commonly misdialled variants of their main number, as a defense against the typosquatters.
A similar issue exists with toll-free number hoarding. One marketer can create multiple shell companies to operate asRespOrgs and register toll-free numbers as soon as their previous users disconnect service. Callers to millions of these numbers are connected not to the desired party but to an advertisement, such as thePrimeTel Communications promotions for costlyphone sex numbers.[10] By tying up millions of easily remembered numbers, these schemes force businesses to useoverlay plan area codes or numbers withoutmnemonicphonewords.
Deployment of multiple toll-free area codes further increases the probability of misdial calls as a common wrong number pattern is to call the +1-800- version of a number which is actually in another area code. In 2009,General Motors advertised +1-877-CLUNKER (1-877-258-6537) to promote a $3 billion U.S. federal"cash for clunkers" program. Judy Van Fossan of The Flower Corner inClinton, Illinois, a tiny local shop which owned 1-800-CLUNKER (+1-800-258-6537), was inundated with more than 150 wrong numbers daily.[11] As of 2013, this florist is advertising a local number only;[12] as the vehiclescrappage program ended in 2009, the abandoned +1-800/888/877 CLUNKERphonewords are now typosquatted as Primetel numbers.[13]
While prohibitions on hoarding, brokering and warehousing numbers exist both in the US (under FCC regulations) and Australia (under ACMA) enforcement has been non-existent except in the most egregious cases, such as registering distinctive phone-words (like +1-800-RED-CROSS) in order to attempt to sell or lease the numbers to the named organization or its local chapters.[14]
In the 2020s,mobile phone spammers have used ostensibly misdirectedtext messages to attractpig butchering scam victims. A con artist sends out a large number of apparently innocent messages to a large number of people. When a person responds saying that the message was sent in error, the con artist apologizes, then introduces themselves, and begins along con to gain the text recipient's confidence. Between late 2021 and mid-2022, the FBI estimates that text message scams had cost 244 victims a total of US$42.7 million tocryptocurrency fraud.[15] Some wrong-number text message scammers areforced laborers in Southeast Asia.[16]
Misdialled calls serve as a plot device in 1948 filmSorry, Wrong Number, in television such as in theDad's Army episode "Sorry, Wrong Number" and in theSeinfeld episode "The Pool Guy". They are also used on theTouch-Tone Terrorists prank call CD series. They also figure in the name ofHotline Miami 2: Wrong Number top-down action game byDennaton Games.
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