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Au revoir, Noel

As with any telecommunications method whose usage balloons out beyond all expectations, SMS is subject to its share of wrong numbers. Last night a most intriguing one for me. A very spiffy picture message of an aeroplane arrived from a number I didn’t recognise, with the message (lack of punctuation preserved): Im leaving tomorrow

Great. So someone was leaving tomorrow. Who, I didn’t know. Where to? Not sure. So I replied: Bon voyage… Who are you? — Daniel

A reply came back a few minutes later: Very sorry I slipped, dialed 6 instead of 0. Take care. Noel

So, enjoy your trip Noel, whoever and wherever you are. Hope you managed to message the friend who was meant to get the spiffy aeroplane picture.

But the one that tops it off was a message my mother received recently, as follows: Hi Elisha, it’s Phil, I will be in Adelaide on Tuesday. Would you like to spend 3 days with me, the same amount as last time, $20 thousand. Pls let me know asap

Uh huh.

(My mum, whose name is not Elisha, did not take him up on the offer.)

By Daniel Bowen

Transport blogger / campaigner and spokesperson for the Public Transport Users Association / professional geek.
Bunurong land, Melbourne, Australia.
Opinions on this blog are all mine.

9 replies on “Au revoir, Noel”

My favourite came a couple of weeks ago.

“She’s being a very naughty girl”.

Came through at 11.30 at night and I’m still wondering exactly what was going on.

So how much did it cost you to sms Noel back? With AT&T it seems like its near .20 cents per character to SMS.

in canada rogers lets your recieve for free but it’s .10 per msg sent. With other companies it’s .10 each way. I nor any of my friends, have ever recieved a wrongfully sent sms. strange?

Funny – I received a bizarre message this afternoon, but it was left on my voicemail. I found a few missed calls from an unrecognised number and phoned voicemail to hear:
“Hi this is Martin (something) from the FBI. I was looking for a Lucy XXX, formerly known as Lucy XXX. Just wondering if her breakfast was over yet, and whether they needed a lift home yet. Can you please give me a call back on 9XXX XXXX. Thanks. Ciao!”

???!!!!

The FBI??? With Aussie accents??
Breakfast?? It was 2.45pm!!!

Fascinating.

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