That’s just weird. Are you sure it was legit? Were you able to identify the car? If you’re not 100% sure, I’d call a non emergency number to confirm someone was dispatched to your house.

I always thought 911 worked off of GPS stuff? That is, it wouldn't matter if somebody spoofed your number, because they could see where the call was originating from? But I could be totally mistaken, because I have no idea

Yes, call the Sheriff Dept, explain the details as you have related here. Ask them to check that the claimed 911 call is legitimate.

I agree with the rest, it sounds fishy and you should see it it was legit. I sure hope you didn't give him a SSN along with your drivers license. Question, did he just take a peek at your drivers license or did he swipe it in a machine? If he wasn't legit I'd advise to do a credit lock and safeguard your bank accounts with a security freeze until you figure things out.

I could see a Wayne County Sheriff's car in the driveway. And he sure was dressed head to toe like a deputy. No, he didn't swipe my license on a machine, he just jotted down some info off of it, then asked for my phone number. I gave him my land line number. Did NOT give him my SSN.

I agree, couldn't have been that my phone number was spoofed. I guess I was just nervous when I actually offered that explanation to him. The call would have HAD to come from my address wouldn't it? Geeze. I hadn't even been on either my land line phone or my cell except for deleting that skam call. Did I hit some auto-dial number by mistake while deleting?

You know, it's a good thing I didn't have anything suspicious in my hand - I could have had a gun drawn on me or shot! Now days it can happen.

Well, maybe I'll call the sheriff dept., but do I have to call 911? I'll look up the number.

ETA: He really did sound concerned and repeated that he was just here to confirm I was okay. He said the call came through all static-like. I thanked him for following up.

Exactly the same thing happened to me a few weeks ago. (I mostly lurk here so I won't look familiar, but I've been around since the days of Spike and the notorious trips to Disney's Tea Cups...)

An odd call rang into my cell displaying a Caller-ID number from the Netherlands; I had no reason to answer so it just rolled off after a few more rings. Within minutes, the local police knocked on my door, said they got a 911 hang up call from my address, and were there to check it out. After some conversation with the 2 officers, and my showing them that the time stamp of their 911 call and my call-log of that Netherlands caller-ID were identical, they were satisfied and left. My neighbor got the same Netherlands call into her phone, too, but it did not show up on the 911 system.

I hope you can get confirmation that your visitor was a legit sheriff deputy, and regain your ease and peace!.

I wouldn't worry it.

There's a thing called swatting, in which a fake 911 call has law enforcement arrive, sometimes with guns at the ready, for a serious reported situation that doesn't exist. The call in those cases isn't necessarily made from the target location, which is reported/faked verbally. Your incident. however, doesn't seem like a swat.

(((Schoolhouse))) I hope you find enough info so that you can feel peaceful and secure.

With the emergency call button on the lock screen, I have dialed 911 accidentally. I know, I'm so talented! But I'm very curious that others have had police visits. When it happened to me, they just called me back. I verified my address over the phone and they said that's what I see and I said thank you very much for caring, but everything's okay.

I would think they'd call you? I think it would be a little unnerving to have somebody knocking on my door. I hope you do find out some information that helps clarify for you.

Perhaps they felt a call full of static necessitated immediate action in case the the caller was in danger and didn't want to be heard.

I would call the Sheriff's office and verify just in case and to ease my mind.

How unnerving! I probably would have written down his name and badge number and checked his bona fides in the morning. You were smart to not give him your SSN, but I don’t like that he has your DL info. I think I would double-check by calling the non-emergency number just to verify that he was legitimate. Better to be safe than sorry in this case.

I turned my computer back on so I could come here and give an update.

Just a minute ago, I did called the sheriff's office (non-emergency number) and asked if they sent a deputy out told her he asked for my SSN. She said yes they had received a 911 call from my address, and a deputy will ask for identification. She didn't exactly say a deputy was sent out, but I got the idea they had. I was a little flustered talking to her so probably don't remember half of what she said.

Anyway, she said it could be due to phone problems today and it was affecting 911. Also said she doubted it was a prank(?). It's nearly midnight, but I'm glad I called. At least I'll sleep a little better tonight.

Ironically, on the TV there was a message about identity theft and how not only SSNs can be used but driver's licenses! That's what made me make the call! I'll keep an eye on my bank accounts for the next several weeks. ugh. Goodnight, and thanks everyone.

I know you will sleep more soundly knowing it was a legitimate visit by a LEO. Glad you made the call.

Why would he ask for your ssn??

I'm chiming in to ask about the sherriff asking for your SS#. How is that ID? It's not state identification... it doesn't have a photo....

I'm glad to know about these strange occurrences. It does sound scammy but where's the benefit for the scammer? I can't see it.

I hope you both (schoolhouse and smiling) find out what's going on so you feel better and not anxious.

That was super strange- but following along I am glad you called the non emergency number and they verified what happened. I wouldn't worry too much more about it . You know it was a legit police officer who came, and there is a record of it.

Maybe it was related to the phone lunacy and maybe it was just a one off glitch, but I'd be like Scarlett and think about that tomorrow or not much at all.

You must feel so relieved.

In a sense, it's a relief that the police respond to 911 calls so if you need them, they'll be there. Strange that he'd ask for your ssn though. Maybe not all people have DLs?

Law enforcement can ask for SSN. They don't typically do that, but they can. I have seen it done where they ask for DL and the person says they don't have it. So they'll run the name and DOB. Which doesn't match what they're looking at. That is, it's a last resort to ask for your social.

However, I would think they might do it more often to make sure one is not wanted in another state. Could be a way to search nationally for wanted folks. I have no idea, but maybe?

The first thing that came to my mind when he walked up onto the porch was that a family member or friend had been in an accident or such. That's why I asked, "Did something happen?" Made my stomach drop a bit. Plus it was dark and very foggy out, my imagination went kind of wild I guess.

When asked by any law enforcement agency in Minnesota they must also provide a disclose form to sign informing you of your rights about giving them your SSN. Below are parts of the form summarizing a person's rights under federal law in Minnesota, but even if your state doesn't have disclose forms all states must follow federal law.

"The federal Privacy Act of 1974 (5 U.S.C. § 552 a) requires local, state, and federal agencies to inform individuals whether sharing that individual’s Social Security number is mandatory or voluntary, the basis of authority for requesting the information, and the uses which will be made of it."

"You do not have to supply your Social Security number and may legally refuse to give it. The Social Security number will be used to identify you in the NCIC system. Consequently, failure to provide the Social Security number may reduce law enforcement’s ability to verify your identity or to investigate the crime."

If you don't want to give your SSN to law enforcement you aren't legally required to do so and the OP was within her rights to refuse.

Do you even have to show ID at all? Why? You can refuse entry and there's nothing they can do about it unless they have a warrant or a suspicion a crime is occurring. How would showing ID prove to them a crime wasn't in the process of being committed or was just committed? You show your DL that has your name and identifies that you live at that address while your DH is laying on the bedroom floor dying from the stab wounds you just inflicted.

You mentioned Wayne County - are you in Michigan? Do I Have to Give a Police Officer My I.D.? | Michigan Legal Center Maybe a questionable 911 call is considered reasonable suspicion, IDK.

I have nothing to base this on but a gut feeling says this IS WAY FISHY.

I’m making an assumption that you live alone and of a mature age perhaps? It’s good that you are concerned and keep an eye on your bank accounts.

Glad everything seems to be OK now, and it wasn't something worse than a mistake.

I can imagine wanting ID for their report, in case there's any problem later on. They need to know that the person they spoke with is really who they say they are. People who are up to no good use other people's names all the time. Not everybody wants cops to know their identity, of course.

To a cop, you might've been a burglar caught in the act, for instance...

Wayne Co., Ohio.

My neighbor called me this morning to see if I was alright. She said she was driving past my house last night and saw the sheriff car in my drive and the deputy at my door. Wondered if something happened or was it just a wellness check.

After I explained, she was surprised too. Then we both got to thinking since any phone could ping to my address, someone may have been behind or around my house in trouble and trying to phone police. Also IN my house. The deputy would have had no idea if I was holding someone against their will, etc. They definitely have a scary job.

so two people on this forum posted about a real hack to the 911 system using their data, on the same day that all our networks were taken down?

This is also a few days after a politician got trouble for publicly screaming about a new satellite threat from Russia? Interesting. Good thing I am not prone to jumping to conclusions about bad actors and threats.

Things that make you go hhmmm.

Not necessarily Joan. For others, imagined conspiracy or intrigue speculations make us go zzzzzz.

My wife accidently hit 911 somehow several years ago when she was dialing another number. I was outside changing the oil on our car when the cop drove up to ask if everything was ok as he explained the 911 call. I dropped everything and ran to the door at the same time my wife came to the door talking on the phone, whew! The cop smiled and left.

If she had not admitted to hitting the wrong number then I would have wondered why he came to our house. I might have asked him if he had the phone number of the 911 source and if it matched our number or not, perhaps he was given the wrong address? ....or it was AT&T, nyuk.

I can totally understand the police officer asking for ID. I agree the whole thing is crazy but they get a call and they do have to check it out. Someone says everything is fine, nothing going on, they do need to know who they are talking to. Maybe I'm naive but I don't have a problem with them asking for ID and I don't feel like it's an invasion and that he shoudl have a warrant.

Yeah, I should have asked from which phone number the 911 call came from - my land line or cell. Remember, I had not too long before gotten a Skam Likely call on my cell and deleted it without opening. Maybe I clicked on something by mistake as I was deleting. Could have asked the dispatcher last night, but didn't think.

And I did thank him for doing a follow-up to check on me.

Beyond wondering about stuff we will never know anyway, I had another thought. Do either of you have new iphones? My mind was a little boggled that Apple made the default result of picking up your phone and accidentally touching a button on each side will start the emergency sos and call 911. I almost called 911 twice before I turned that setting off.

It is under Settings, scroll down to Emergency SOS and turn it off (if you want:) I believe if you keep holding in the side button along with either volume button, it will call 911. I caught it both times and stopped it from calling but you can do this and not even see it happening if you pick it up and don’t look at the screen. I thought it was really stupid default behavior for a phone.

My daughter was a young woman living in downtown DC in a basement apartment. Late one evening she got a knock on the door and when she looked out she saw what appeared to be an office in uniform so she opened the door. He started with something that sounded suspect from the very first word and about that time her boyfriend came out from the bedroom and guy just took off. She did contact the local police and they had no indication that there was ever a call.

I am so glad that she did not marry that guy, but so glad that he was there that night.

That emergency thing......I have accidently made such a call on my iphone.

You should be able to look at your call log under ’recents’ and see if there was a call from your cell (accidentally made). Have you listened to the dial tone on your landline? Sometimes there has been some kind of equipment failure on my former landline that resulted in a bunch if static on the line.

Often with domestic violence calls, a woman might be able sneak a call to 911. when the cops show up, the abuser could force her to answer the door and pretend all is ok, while he’s off to the side holding a gun to her head. Asking for ID is one way to discover if you have ever been reported as a victim. in the past. That would increase LE’s desire to maybe enter the home and make sure all is ok.

If you are still curious and you don’t see a 911 call from your cell, you could check with your landline provider to see if the have records of outgoing calls from your landline to check.

I've seen a number of videos showing a woman in distress giving a signal of a thumb across the palm and then folding the 4 fingers down over the palm. Presumably the police would recognize such a symbol too...

The more I think about, the more curious I get about the phone number. As far as incoming and outgoing calls on my cell, I delete those right away. Just a habit. And I can't imagine how a 911 call could be made on my land line phone when I hadn't even been on it all day.

Part of me doesn't want to be a a trouble maker, so I'll let it go. As I say, I think I would have been contacted by now if there was something fishy about the deputy. Thanks again for all the concern and hand-holding.