There is actually a lot of sketchy ways cell towers and the cellular network in general is being used today due to the how the architecture was set up long ago

There is actually a lot of sketchy ways cell towers and the cellular network in general is being used today due to the how the architecture was set up long ago and the current FCC administration. What you are seeing is a common tactic, these spammers know you are more likely to pick up a number that is most similar to yours and they buy the data of recently connected phones from cell towers through aggregators. You might find this podcast on the whole thing interesting: https://gimletmedia.com/shows/reply-all/awhk76 https://gimletmedia.com/shows/reply-all/awhk76