My fax dialed 911

[baz67]

Yep that is correct my fax or computer dialed 911. Here is the story.

My wife calls me around 2:00 Pac time, I am out of town. She said that when she came home from her workout there was one of Las Vegas' finest in front of our house. He must have just arrived because he was just walking to the side of the house from the driveway. My wife asks him, "whats going on." He informs her that 911 received a hang-up call from my house. That is strange as no one was home for a few hours. He then shows her the info on the computer in his car. It shows my name, address and the number that was called from(my fax number). He checked out the house to make sure nobody wanted to die that day. Of coarse the house was empty.

This brings up all sorts of questions. First and foremost, WTF. How did that happen? There is no phone connect to that line. It has only my fax and computer(ya I still use dial-up at home). I am not sure what one I have first in the connection series. I think it is my computer. Could someone hijack my computer with an unconnected dial-up? The computer was turned off at the time. That computer only dial-ups when it is connected to the internet. There have been some sign on issues lately. It connects fine, but will not sign on.

Anyone have a clue on what happened? Also, if it was hijacked, what can I do to prevent this? Thanks all.

Brian

[David Pozzi]

Check your phone bill, maybe it's trying to "Phone Home"
I've heard of cordless phones dialing when their battery is going dead. don't know if it's really possible though.
Get any rain or wind that day?

[TonyL]

ive also heard of and actually known people that have had theives "jack in" to someones house by splicing into their lines. most people that do this only make outgoing calls, so you'd never know it was going on.

[LowBuckX]

Yes most cordless Phones will dial 911 if the batt goes dead. Mine did once....

[Jagarang]

What about you alarm system...mine dials by itself all the time. Usually to the "Alarm" company, but I'm sure it also can call 911....I think thats what it does if you press the "Panic" or "Fire" buttons. Just an idea!

[JamesJ]

This could be way off but maybe it was a virus on your computer. Just an idea

[dhardison]

I think JamesJ is on target with his post. There's a virus named BAT.Chode.Worm that dials 911 on every 5th infection. See URL for more info.

http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,16014,00.asp

Dan

[Rick Dorion]

I had three 911 responses a few months ago over a one week period due to a physical line problem outside the house that took Verizon too long to diagnose and fix. The State Police were understanding and said it often happens.

[baz67]

Thanks, my first thought was the computer since there is no phone on that line. I did not think about a virus. Would the virus work if the computer was turned off? Or at least look off. My wife is checking with the phone company today. Thanks again. That is a little spooky.

Brian

[dhardison]

No, the computer would have to be on for the virus to do its thing.

Dan

[raustinss]

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