A construction contractor in Indonesia gets spamcalled during TGA due to Fortnite map code number matched to Indonesian phone number

[KeradSnake]

Summary

Fortnite map code has always been well known to have 16 digits. At TGA, most of the map code started with 0853. And unfortunately some people in Indonesia that took notice of this during TGA decided to check whether this is real number phone due to its similarities to Indonesian provider Telkomsel's first 4 digit number of phone number from that ISP, which is 0853, and it doesn't help that most Indonesian phone number has 16 digit numbers as well (so the format is 0853-XXXX-XXXX). One of notorious example was Tajudin, a construction contractor, gets spamcalled because one of the TGA Fortnite code that were shared on the screen, which someone else getcontact'd and apparently it's a real person. The person has since released a statement about the spamcall situation (in Indonesian, of course), and in an interview with local news outlet, he admitted that the spamcall came every minute and it's still happening to this very second. He didn't know about Fortnite or TGA at all, he basically can't really change his phone number because the number is well known to many of his business colleagues, and were concerned of misuse or threats coming from the incident.

 

Quotes

Quote

It is Tajudin, a construction foreman in Bekasi who still has to "deal" with The Game Awards 2023 at the time this news was written. What's the problem? Simply because the cellphone number he has turns out to be similar to the Fortnite map code displayed at The Game Awards 2023 and which, of course, is sponsored by Epic Games itself. This number, which was similar to a telephone number in Indonesia, apparently attracted quite a lot of people to send him messages for fun and ended up calling him. In fact, Tajudin himself doesn't understand video games, what Fortnite is, and doesn't really understand social media.

 

This is what Tajudin admitted in his interview with the Kumparan website. Tajudin admitted that messages and calls came to his number almost every minute, which ended up disrupting his work. He did not take the option to change the number considering that this number was already known to many of his business colleagues. Along with the viral content surrounding his name, Tajudin is also worried that his number will end up being misused.

 

(JagatPlay, translated)

 

Quote

However, Tajudin, a construction foreman who lives in Bekasi, experienced an unpleasant fate. This event meant that every day, even every minute, he received written messages via WhatsApp and also telephone calls from unknown people. How come?

So, at that event, there was an announcement of the map code for voting for 'The Best Creator Made Fortnite Island of The Year'. The problem is that the arrangement of the random numbers in the code is similar to an Indonesian cellphone number, in this case it really matches Tajudin's cellphone number. The code should be entered in the Fortnite. However, many random people sent messages and called him because the code number was the same as Tajudin's cellphone number, so Tajudin became annoyed.

 

"The thing is, I don't play anything like that, I don't play games . But it was trending on Twitter. Yes, this also makes me dizzy (confused) too, there are calls every minute," he continued.

Tajudin started getting the flood of messages and calls 3 days ago. He actually wanted to change his cellphone number, but the problem was that the number was already known to many of his business colleagues, so it was very important for his work.

"Straight away I sent the photos, but I didn't have anyone call me saying there was anything [receiving a gift or being terrorized] like that, nothing, I didn't receive it. But up to this day there were people from everywhere who I didn't answer, because I was dizzy (confused). So even if it's 'important' numbers, I just ignore them all," he said.

 

(Kumparan, translated)

 

My thoughts

 

This is very much confusing situation IMO. Like, no one expected these codes to be similar to a phone number from another country. At the same time, after this they probably should revamp the code format? Although I don't see it as an option that would make sense especially for something that is very much unexpected like this doxxing incident that isn't even really a doxxing but at the same time someone went a bit far and like 'oh I know this four digit number, it's Telkomsel number, lets call them and spread it on internet if it's a real number' but then you realized it's also a publicly shared code, but it felt like a privacy concern so they probably should revamp the format, it's very confusing damn I probably just gonna stop here.

 

Also uh who's going to tell him that no, their number is not misused by Epic, it's just a coincidence that it's matched with Tajudin's number. Then again most people in Indonesia are tech illiterate anyway *sigh*

 

Sources

https://jagatplay.com/2023/12/news/mandor-bangunan-di-bekasi-jadi-korban-kode-fortnite-di-tga-2023/

https://kumparan.com/kumparansport/nomor-hp-mandor-bangunan-bekasi-viral-di-game-awards-ditelepon-tiap-menit-21k2KpI4rA4/full

https://twitter.com/Tajudin167/status/1733107704162656715

[Fasterthannothing]

I don't understand why the dude won't change his number like bro how are you going to tell if anyone important is calling you anyway if you're getting a call every single minute 

[Poinkachu]

43 minutes ago, Fasterthannothing said:

I don't understand why the dude won't change his number like bro how are you going to tell if anyone important is calling you anyway if you're getting a call every single minute 

Imagine you are a freelancer, people contact you by phone, be it old customers or potentially new one that got your number from other people / ads you put out.

Changing number might mean potential customer not being able to call you.

 

but yes, being spammed all the time will also mean potential customer not being able to call you.

 

For more context & detail :

While "Construction Contractor" sounds elite and all, in Indonesia it might mean elite business or big contractors, or just really small private freelance contractors. I am guessing he is of the latter.

Edited December 11, 2023 by Poinkachu

[CarlBar]

4 minutes ago, Poinkachu said:

Imagine you are a freelancer, people contact you by phone, be it old customers or potentially new one that got your number from other people / ads you put out.

Changing number might mean potential customer not being able to call you.

 

If he's getting spam called as often as he claims most legitimate callers will get a busy line anyway.

[Poinkachu]

Just now, CarlBar said:

 

If he's getting spam called as often as he claims most legitimate callers will get a busy line anyway.

Yep.
It's kinda a dilemma.

 

Hopefully the spam will die down soon enough.

[porina]

An unfortunate coincidence in numbers.

 

Wonder if a workaround for now might be to put their phone into whitelist mode so only known contacts will go through. Others can be redirected to voicemail as a filter.

[TetraSky]

Why are people this stupid...

[Forbidden Wafer]

59 minutes ago, TetraSky said:

Why are people this stupid...

Dunno, but it's a constant. 

Spoiler

 

 

[Lunar River]

Why are people so cringe to see a number and go "I wonder if this number in this children's game I play is a phone number? I better call it, maybe I get free v-bucks!!!!!"