A T-Mobile customer was mistaken for a helpline when his wife used his number as her username on a T-Mobile forum.
Google listed a customer's number as T-Mobile's
Google's crawlers mistook a customer's number for T-Mobile's number. | Image Credit - Reddit user burkarm
As first picked up by The Mobile Report, Reddit user burkarm was flummoxed when his father-in-law was randomly inundated with calls from strangers recently. Those strangers were T-Mobile customers, and they told him that his number was listed on Google as T-Mobile support.
Yesterday, my father in-law, who is a T-mobile customer, starts getting phone calls non-stop.
The person calling him thinks they are calling T-mobile support.
He's asking how they got his number and people are telling him they Googled T-mobile support and that's what popped up.
burkarm, Reddit user, October 2025
It turned out that burkarm's mother-in-law had used her husband's phone number as her username on a message board, and Google's algorithm somehow decided that that number was linked to T-Mobile. As a result, it was served up as a call button for queries related to T-Mobile support.
Since this mix-up was caused by Google, T-Mobile was unable to provide assistance. The problem subsided and eventually went away after the mother-in-law deleted her post.
So it turns out my mother-in'law wrote that post and for whatever reason used my father in law's number as the account name. I told her to go in and delete it and maybe that will fix it.
burkarm, Reddit user, October 2025
Google's mistake prevented customers from getting help
On the surface, this is a harmless story, but it is still a reminder that Google's search engine has a mind of its own, and it's not a good idea to mention a personal number on a public forum.
The episode wasn't just a nuisance for the person whose number was listed, but likely also for customers who needed help but couldn't get hold of T-Mobile because Google listed the wrong number.
While it's convenient to grab numbers from Google's search page, it's a better idea to visit the official website of the entity you are trying to reach and verify the number from there. That extra step will save you the trouble of calling the wrong number.
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Should T-Mobile play a bigger role in situations like this?
No, it wasn't its mistake.
34.25%
Yes, the problem is related to it.
45.21%
It shouldn't wash its hands of it completely.
20.55%
Not everything is T-Mobile's mistake
The incident is also another reminder that T-Mobile isn't always responsible for problems experienced by its customers. Earlier this month, many customers received an official-looking letter berating them for their browsing activities, but it was later discovered that T-Mobile wasn't behind them.
Anam Hamid is a computer scientist turned tech journalist who has a keen interest in the tech world, with a particular focus on smartphones and tablets. She has previously written for Android Headlines and has also been a ghostwriter for several tech and car publications. Anam is not a tech hoarder and believes in using her gadgets for as long as possible. She is concerned about smartphone addiction and its impact on future generations, but she also appreciates the convenience that phones have brought into our lives. Anam is excited about technological advancements like folding screens and under-display sensors, and she often wonders about the future of technology. She values the overall experience of a device more than its individual specs and admires companies that deliver durable, high-quality products. In her free time, Anam enjoys reading, scrolling through Reddit and Instagram, and occasionally refreshing her programming skills through tutorials.
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