Phone Numbers Provided by Jackie for Her Imaginary Boyfriend Were Created on Website That Enables Cellphone Spoofing

That is, it's actually a computer website that can pretend that it's sending texts from a cellphone of a number the user makes up and assigns to the spoof account.

This explains how the Mystery Man "Drew" sent texts to Jackie's friends, despite not actually existing:

Today the Washington Times adds significant new detail to the story. It turns out the cell numbers provided by Jackie, "are registered to Internet services that...can be used to redirect calls to different numbers or engage in spoofing." The site, known as Pinger, is an app that allows people to text for free but it can also be used to set up free texting accounts on the web. It's at least possible then that the accounts Jackie's friends were texting were not connected to a phone at all. Told about the source of the texts, one of Jackie's friends, Alex Stock, tells the Times, "That definitely raises some red flags."

This raises a possibility which I must stress is merely a possibility, a possible explanation for some contradictory claims.

I wouldn't offer this speculation, because I'll get killed by the SJWs, except that it's so obvious it's essentially right there on the surface.

Sabrina Rubin Erdely has claimed that she in fact contacted "Randall" (now identified as Ryan) but he said he would not comment on the story "out of loyalty to his frat."

Ryan, for his part, says he never spoke with Erdely, and that she never contacted him at all. He says he would have spoke to her if Erdely had asked.

So, given this business with the spoofed cell phone numbers: Is it possible that Sabrina Rubin Erdely was tricked into thinking she was texting with Ryan when in fact she was just communicating with spoofed accounts run by someone else?

I don't know. That scenario would permit both Ryan and Erdely to be telling the truth, as it appeared to them, and yet be in complete contradiction with one another. Ryan would say "Erdely never contacted me," and would be truthful, and Erdely would say "I contacted Ryan but he refused to be interviewed," and would not be lying, though she would be wrong.

Even if that were true, I don't know if that totally lets Erdely off the hook. I don't know if you just assume you've gotten through to an interview subject without any kind of actual confirmation of that.

Spooky:

I'll mention this again -- STEPHEN GLASS'S MIDDLE NAME IS RANDALL.

It's turtles all the way down on this one, people.

-- Phinn

posted by Ace at 08:27 PM

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