Get Premium
Dark mode theme is available exclusively for premium users. Learn more about the benefits of subscribing.
No fees, cancel anytime.
Dark Mode 
No fees, cancel anytime 
36 Pocket Dial Stories So Catastrophically Bad You Will Be Double-Checking Your Lock Screen Now
The pocket dial is one of technology's most democratic disasters. It does not discriminate by age, intelligence, or level of general competence. It has happened to careful people, to tech-savvy people, to people who were absolutely certain they had locked their phone before putting it away.
One moment of inattention, one poorly positioned contact in your pocket, and suddenly someone on the other end of an accidental call is hearing something they were never, under any circumstances, supposed to hear. An online community recently asked people to share their worst pocket dial stories, and the fear is real. Your phone has been a liability this whole time; don’t say we didn’t warn you.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
This is a repost of a lucky break I had:
Got a call close to midnight a few years back from a number I didn't know and I picked up to say hello. I instantly heard on the other line "That jerk didn't pick up his phone." I said hello again, but there was no response - whoever called me had placed his phone in his pocket, assuming the call was over, me still on the line. I was about to hang up, thinking it a wrong number when I distinctly heard from another voice "Well if [AlphaRedditor] didn't pick up, it means he's asleep."
So, clearly someone there knows who I am. I decide to listen in a bit. What I heard over the course of the next 10 minutes brought my blood to a boil. They began to talk in great detail about robbing my apartment - they had ski masks, a baseball bat, and a fake weapon. I was right there, sitting in my apartment, listening as they went through a play-by-play of what was to happen within the next hour and I still had no idea who the hell these guys were.
I placed my cell on mute and walked to my neighbors, who I knew. Calmly, I told them what was up and they called the cops while I continued to eavesdrop. They knew where we hid the spare key. They knew where I kept some cash. Clearly these f***s had some inside knowledge.
Cops got there within five minutes and they decided it would be best to wait in my apartment as I fed them information on what the suspects were up to (stopped by a gas station for a soda, gotta rob while hydrated). Finally, it was apparent they were in my neighborhood and the cops turned off the lights and took their place.
I watched from my neighbors window as two men dressed in black proceeded to take my hidden key (in a hollow rock) and quietly open the back door. They were in it for all of 10 seconds when the lights came on and cops were screaming at them with weapons pointed to get down. Busted.
Come to find out what happened was my roommate's d*****d up cousin had decided to rob me while he was out of town. They decided to call me with an unfamiliar number to make sure I wasn't awake. Worst and best accidental call.
RELATED:
#2
A little back story;
When I started dating my boyfriend of now 3 years I did not make a good impression on his dad. We were only together a short period of time so he did't talk to his dad about me. His dad walked into his apartment and found us on the sofa, with me in just a bra and underwear and his son in boxers on top of me. Tom jumped up, put a towel over me and talked to his dad ... sigh, I sat awkwardly for a while with my pants across the room and protection on the floor.
The second time his dad heard from me was when we were being intimate in his car. We accidentally dialed him mid doing it, loudly. Toms dad called him an hour later and told him to keep a better eye on his phone.
Oh P.S. his dad got in his car a week later and found my underwear under the passengers seat.
#3
My dad called and invited my boyfriend and myself to dinner. We were about to get it on when it happened, so after I hung up, we started being intimate. 20 min later I check my phone, and see that my call was still connected and the call time was still going...
I was horrified I had left a long voice mail recording every audible noise of our escapade, but it turns out that the call was disconnected, and it was just a phone glitch. Never been so thankful in my life...
It would be difficult to top two men in Monroe, North Carolina, who butt-dialed 911 while actively committing a burglary. At 3:30 am, a dispatcher picked up what they initially assumed was a distress call, only to gradually realise that the two people on the other end were having a detailed conversation about which items would be most useful to steal. The dispatcher sent officers to the location.
The burglars, blissfully unaware that this was happening, continued their product assessment. The moment the story tips from merely funny into genuinely poetic is when one of the men can be heard saying: "The police are coming. We've got to get out of here." He was correct. When investigators later spoke to him, they confirmed that his phone had been in his pocket and an emergency button had been hit accidentally.
"Clearly it was a mistake," said Monroe Police Lt. Steve Morton. "He wasn't happy." The men had loaded approximately $12,000 worth of metal construction beams into a vehicle before the situation resolved itself. After both men were arrested, one of them called the police department to request that they remove the Facebook post about the arrest because it was, in his assessment, too embarrassing.
#4
After I was just hired for an internship at a large chip manufacturer I got a call from my hiring manager explaining what I would need to do the next day when I flew across the US for the job to get my badge and whatnot. That went well and all, after the call I went back to moving out of my dorm, a friend was helping me and the subject of a previous roommate came up. As we both started ranting about what a jerk he was, I leaned against my desk [I'm assuming this is when my pocket call went out] and started swearing up a storm about how much I hated the kid. About ten minutes later I got a call from my manager again, he was furious, I was terrified. He overheard my rantings and I guess somehow assumed it was about him. He threatened to fire me if I didn't have some explanation for what happened.
**TL;DR Boss thought I called him a 'pretentious a*****e that should f**k off and d*e before telling me what to do', almost lost my job before it started**.
#5
Just the other day, I had made some very poor partying choices for the fourth of July. I worked at my little office job in a sea of old women at one the next afternoon, and figured I could be pretty flexible with the amount of bad stuff I did the night before.
I had completely lost track of time and ended up drinking 'til 7:30 in the morning. Needless to say, I was nowhere near sober when I woke up thirty minutes before I needed to be sitting at my desk.
I attempted to call in sick, but it went straight to voicemail. I promptly hung up, and put my phone in my pocket and started drunkenly talking with my friends. Later, I noticed my phone had called my boss again, this time leaving a message of my drunken bantering.
I'm still not sure if she heard anything audibly through my pocket. All she said the next time I saw her was, "It's okay. I was a 23 year-old girl once."
**TL;DR: Drunk pocket dialed my boss 30 minutes before work.**
**EDIT: Formatting**.
#6
My junior prom was HORRIBLE. The guy I went with was an acquaintance and told me he loved me before we even left for the dance. The entire evening he was handsy, creepy, and way over protective. I could go on and on about that night but I'll spare you the details. Anyways when I went back to school on Monday I unloaded on one of my friends about what a nightmare it had been only to look down at my phone and see i had b**t dialed him... He texted me 5 minutes later saying "I really thought you loved me too, but I guess I just wasnt good enough for you".
Larry Barnett, 68, allegedly butt-dialed the exact person he was in the process of plotting to unalive, inadvertently giving his intended victim a ninety-minute front-row seat to the entire plan. The victim, who figured out relatively quickly that he was listening to a live discussion about his own end, stayed on the call and heard everything.
He also heard Barnett allegedly directing a third party to his home with the instruction: "I don't care if you have to burn his house to the ground with him in it. I don't care what you have to do, make it look like an accident." The victim contacted police, who were dispatched to his home and found it had already been burglarized, with the gas stove deliberately tampered with.
The call hadn't been idle talk. Barnett was arrested and charged, with the accidental phone call serving as a fairly significant piece of evidence against him. Of all the things a pocket dial has ever accidentally exposed, an active plot being transmitted directly to the intended victim is the most dramatic possible outcome.
#7
I have one of Seinfeldian proportions. My dad got a new gf 6 months ago, and for easter my family went to visit my grandparents. My dad's nice gf watched our dog while we were gone, but she kept overfeeding him and he got sick. Well, my dad left his cell phone in the car on the way to the airport and when we got to the grandparent's house, he asked to use my cell phone to call his girl friend.
I dialed for him, but she didn't answer and I thought I hung up when it went to voicemail. Sadly I didn't hang up, and had my phone in my lap while my whole extended family berated my dad's gf for making our dog spoiled and sick and how she was probably going to end him inadvertently.
This was all in a message on her phone, of which she heard everything. It was hard to gain her trust after this because at that point she assumed we all hated her. Apologies were exchanged and now things are ok, but that was terrible.
#8
When I was 15 I had this girlfriend that my mom not so cleverly nick-named "crazy girl" behind her back.At first I disapproved but the name was really fitting. She kept tabs on me where ever I went, wanted me to get rid of all my female friends, and even once got pissed when I hugged my cousin.
On this particular day I am at the local college counseling center with my mom because I had just received a scholarship to take a college course over the summer. While talking to the counselor I can feel my phone buzzing for what seemed like 20 minutes. On our way back to the car I pull out my phone, 15 missed calls, it was the girlfriend. My mom pulls out her phone and says "What the hell? 10 missed calls!" I knew they were from the gf as well so I said "yeah it's crazy girl at it again hahah". My mom gets this look of horror as I'm laughing it up, apparently she was still calling and my mom accidentally answered while we were talking.
I grudgingly take the phone, accepting my fate, and this is what transpired:
me: Hello?
C.G.: What did you call me?
me: Umm what?
C.G.: where you calling me crazy girl?!? TO YOUR MOTHER?!
me: What?? No I would never call you that. I was talking about my sister, shes freaking out right now.
It's at this point in my life where I figured out how great of a mom I have. She starts pretending to be my little sister in the background throwing a fit. Now I don't know if she actually bought that story or she just decided to spare me that day but I told her that I had to go and would call her later and she never brought it up again.
tldr: I shouldn't be alive.
#9
Apparently, my grandmother pocket dialed me while driving one night. She was bringing my baby cousin of about 3 months over to our house. She called, I answered and said hello. Nothing. All I could hear was my cousin crying in the background. I said hello again. Nothing. Still crying. Then all of a sudden I hear my grandmother's voice. "YOU SON OF A F*****G B***H, SHUT UP ALREADY!!!!!!!!". Speechless and bewildered, I just hung up.
Somewhere between 30% and 50% of all mobile emergency calls in the United States are accidental. In San Francisco, 30% of cell phone 911 calls are pocket dials. In New York City, that figure climbs to an estimated 50%. FCC Commissioner Michael O'Reilly calculated that this adds up to approximately 84 million accidental 911 calls every single year in the United States.
Handlers spend an average of one minute and fourteen seconds on each accidental call, verifying whether an actual emergency exists before they can move on. Silent connections have to be investigated. Numbers have to be called back. Every minute spent confirming that someone's phone accidentally called from inside a gym bag is a minute not spent responding to something real.
"It raises the cost of providing 911 services, depletes morale, and increases the risk that legitimate 911 calls and first responders will be delayed," Commissioner O'Reilly wrote. Among 84 million accidental calls a year, the ones that matter are in there somewhere. The job, exhaustingly, is finding them.
#10
Ex-gf pocket dialed me at 3am while out partying after a concert.
Found out she had cheated on me that night because she proceeded to tell her sister and a few friends about her fun evening while in line at a McD's drive-thru.
Best part: I didn't answer because I was asleep so it was a saved voicemail. I kept it and played the waiting game. She pretended it never happened. She wasn't going to own up to it.
A week or so later, I played the voicemail on speakerphone for her. Hilarity ensued.
By hilarity, I mean days of arguing. She tried to deny it. She tried to pretend it was a joke perpetuated by her sister. Her sister wasn't a fan of me and I didn't like her fat-a*s either.
After a while, I got sick of dealing with it and dropped her sorry a*s, moved out and eventually met the lady who is now my fiancee.
Worked out for the better!
#11
Of all the possible 3-digit combinations, 911 had to come up.
I'm sure they listened for a while as I played Xbox very vocally.
#12
Not necessarily pocket dialing but a few weeks ago I installed a new radio in my car which has bluetooth functions meaning I can take calls using the radio without ever picking up my phone. A call from someone I didn't want to talk to came in and while pressing a button I said to myself "how do you hang up on somebody."
The speakers piped up, "probably not with the button you just pressed.".
Given that 84 million accidental calls happen every year, you should know what you are supposed to do if your pocket beats you to it. The first thing to understand is that accidentally dialling emergency services is not a crime. A rogue pocket is not prosecutable. You are not in trouble. Take a breath.
What you should do is stay on the line. The instinct when you realise what's happened is to hang up immediately, which is actually the worst possible response because a sudden silent disconnection is exactly what prompts dispatchers to send officers to your location to investigate. Instead, speak to the operator, tell them clearly it was an accidental call, and confirm that you are safe.
If you do hang up before you get the chance to explain and the emergency services call you back, answer it immediately. A callback from 911 that goes unanswered is treated as a potential emergency, which means the alternative to picking up the phone is a very unnecessary visit from first responders who have considerably better things to do with their afternoon.
#13
Mine actually isn't a horror story, but it sure did freak me out a bit.
A relatively fresh ex of mine was a kinda quiet guy, one would even say modest, and a bit shy as well. He was out with his friends one night, and as it was getting late, he called to say he'd be staying over at their place. He was very sweet as usual, so we said our good nights and agreed to meet the next afternoon.
Thinking he had hung up, he went on talking to his friends, but it was like listening to a completely different person. He was outspoken, very direct and nothing like the shy little boy I took him for: I was listening in to an A-male at its best! His friends asked who he was talking to, and soon he proceeded to describe to them our s*x life... and let me tell you, he exaggerated A LOT about it (still, he gave me lots of good credit, so points for that). He described situations and positions we never did, and all with such fierceness and lust that I had trouble believing he was talking about me (the repetition of my name and some other details though reassured me).
The interesting thing was, I was ALL UP FOR IT ALL. Had he suggested *any* of the things he described, I'd have excitedly agreed to them. The good thing that came out of it was, I now knew what he was into, and drew it out of him over the next couple of weeks. I figured, if he's to share what we do with his friends, I'll give him something to talk about, and he might as well be accurate about it.
**tl;dr Overheard boyfriend describing fantasy s*x to his friends, made it reality.**.
#14
B**t-dialed my parents while in a theater watching Ninja Assassin.
I get out of the theater to a huge list of missed calls. I made contact with them right before they attempted to contact the police.
The blood-curdling screams were apparently concerning.
#15
My phone kept getting these annoying messages through from various s*x lines. Some ranged from really simple things such as "Hi, I'm Amber and I'm wearing a thong ;)" to more extreme things.
One day I get one through saying
"I'm going to f**k you with my giant black d***o you little man s**t!". This was probably one of the more "w*f" ones I got.
Anyway, one day it was a lovely day so decided to take a walk. About forty-five minutes later I check my phone and discover that I had forwarded the black d***o message 500 times to one of my co-workers. (In addition to about 20 of the same message to half my contacts.
I don't think I even bothered explaining myself; and I think my co worker is still getting the messages through.
The good news is that pocket dials are almost entirely preventable with a few simple adjustments. Manually locking your screen before pocketing your phone is the most obvious and most ignored solution. Shortening your auto-lock time means that even if you forget, the window for accidental chaos closes faster. And if you're on an iPhone, disabling "Raise to Wake" is key.
The physical logistics matter too. Keeping your screen facing outward rather than against your body reduces contact with the display, and avoiding back pockets entirely removes the single most pressure-prone location a phone can occupy on a human being. The back pocket is essentially a pocket dial waiting to happen.
The pocket dial is, in most cases, a minor embarrassment that resolves itself quickly and becomes a story you tell at dinner. In some cases, it is the specific mechanism by which something much larger gets accidentally handed to exactly the wrong person at exactly the right moment. Lock your phone. Check your contacts before you vent. And maybe save the gossip for your next face-to-face meeting.
#16
No, but everytime someone accidentally calls me, I stay on the line for 30 minutes trying to hear them talking s**t about me or any juicy gossip. Sadly, so far all I've gotten is the rustling of pants and voices I can't make out.
#17
My friend Scott was real bad at b**t-dialing. His phone would redial by default the last number dialed or the last number that called him. We used to get voicemails of his radio in the car for the entire 5 minutes voice mail would allow for a single message at the time.
The one that made him famous was singing along to "Margaritaville." We called him "Parrothead" for months.
#18
This is not a horror story in the sense of other posts here, but one that creeped both me and my cousin out.
We had just finished up at the gym and were about to drive home together when my cousin started getting a phone call. Naturally, at the gym, he threw everything into his gym bag and into the back of the car, including his phone. He starts fumbling around back there and finds his phone, checks it, and then looks at me.
"Why are you calling me dude?"
I was like 'wha?'. And he showed me his phone (we both have iPhones), yep, that was my name in caller id. I check my phone... Nothing, no indication at all that I had pocket dialed him when getting into the car. Even if I had pocket dialed him it would have had to go through the lockscreen, into the contacts app (back a page) and the scrolled down to the bottom and hit call.
It was the strangest thing I had seen. We now believe that iPhones have feelings, and if they are away from each other for too long, they get desperate.
#19
Pocket dialed my mom while I was hanging out with friends. The conversation wasn't appropriate, if you get where I'm going.
#20
I was 19 and at school late to work on a project. My phone (which was pay as you go at the time) pocket dialed my ex girlfriend. In the 25min (which was about half the airtime I had on my phone) that she was listening I had gone to the bathroom for #2 which led to a double flush. She finally hung up the phone and called me in pure hysterics. I had no idea what was going on until she told me what had happened. I was just pissed because most of my time was used up on the listening haha.
#21
Friend of mine was in an EMT class when he accidentally pocket dialed his mother. It was his turn to play "Annie," so his mother listened in horror as they went through the whole act:
"[Friend's name] can you hear me?! He's not breathing!..."
And so on.
#22
A friend was telling me about the first time she ever met her boyfriend. He happened to be bare naked at a party and walked into the room she was in. She then went on and on about how large his *ahem* attribute was. We noticed her screen was lit up so she picked up her phone. The conversation with her father went as following:
Friend: Dad??
Her dad: Yes??
Friend: What all did you hear?
Her dad: Enough. Be safe.
He promptly hung up.
He has passed away since then, but we always talk about that story when we think of him.
#23
I have road rage... I hate traffic and s****y drivers. I'm a videographer, so driving comes with the territory.
There have been maybe two times I've pocket dialed a client after speaking with them and they heard my curse-filled raging. My friendly, high-pitched professional tone is way different than my "F*****G DRIVE, C**K-SUCKING SHITBRAINED PENCIL D**K" voice muffled through the pocket of my pants.
#24
I once skipped a class with a couple of friends. The house we were going to was right behind the school so all we had to do was hop a fence. So I was thinking that it would really suck if my mom pulled in to the school and saw me hopping over the fence. Once we're all over the fence, we go in to the house. Not even 30 seconds later, I get a call from my mother. I was scared shitless.
"Uhhhh, hello?" I'm seriously freaking out at this point.
Silence
"Mom?"
More silence
So I was shaking really bad at that point thinking she had seen me. Then I realized it was a b**t dial.
Just the memory freaks me out.
#25
Most recent ex-girlfriend (perhaps-not-so) accidentally pocket dialed me during s*x with her new boyfriend.
After the initial reptile-brain anger when I realized what I was listening to, I quickly noticed something - how quiet it was. Only an occasional grunt and the rhythmic squeaking of the bed.
Forget about jealousy. M**********r wasn't hittin' it right! If you're going to pocket dial me during s*x, of all emotions it shouldn't elicit pity. At least sound like you're having fun!
#26
I was driving along one day. I decided to sing children's songs/nursery rhymes. Then I decided to try a variety of ridiculous voices (outrageous Scots, Darth Vader, falsetto, etc) as I did so.
My phone had pocket-dialed 9-1-1. I only realised when I heard a muffled voice interrupting me while I sang "I'm a little tea-pot" in the style of a N**i SS officer...
EDIT: I accidentally a grammar.
#27
My husband works with heavy machinery. Every pocket dial sounds like some kind of epic battle between lumberjacks and a velociraptor/blender hybrid.
#28
I pocket dialed a girl that I was semi-involved with while I was taking a p**s. And it was the longest p**s of my life. I didn't realize it while I was doing it. She called me later that night and was like "Did you really just call me to p**s?" It was extremely embarassing but we still laugh about it.
#29
Ever own a blackberry? they have an emergency call option.
pocket dial 911 while at underage drinkin party.
win.
#30
I have waited all my life for this moment. Never gonna get seen.
**Story:** Friend of mine and I had a couple of girls who were best friends. I had been sleeping with one (my Sophmore year of highschool) and her friend really wanted to lose her virginity to my friend. Cutscene to the four of us, drunk in my friends living room. We both start our respective business with a couch between us, no peeking. The friend, losing her virginity, says a lot of things, mostly "Ow", nervous s*x comments, lots of moaning, and at one point "Ouch that's my b**t!". About 15 minutes in, she shrieks. I mean loud. My girl and I jump up, cover up, and ask what happened (I figured it when fully in the b**t this time). Apparently in the foreplay she rolled over her phone, I think it was an early touchscreen model, and it dialed her house and was leaving a message. My friend and I were slightly relieved and suggested that we just drive over to her house and delete the message quick. "You don't understand," she said, "my parents don't answer their phone because of creditors. They just sit on the couch and listen to the messages." Oh-s**t glances were shared. We steal my friend's dad's car and drive her home (no licences). She goes inside, never comes out. Grounded for a year, reduced to 6 months.
**tldr:** Girl pocket dialed home, and her parents sat and listened as she left a message of herself losing her virginity in the same room as another couple having s*x.
#32
I got a call from a girlfriend of mine. She was f*****g one of my friends.. I heard everything..
#33
My phone dialed my girlfriend while I was getting fappy and watching p**n with the volume up. After I'm done I have 4 missed calls. I call her back and she asks "Who's the s**t you're with asking you to c*m on her face?!". It was impossible to believably explain. Got dumped.
TL;AF.
#34
The other night I realized that I had pocket dialed my ex...while in the midst of f*****g my current boyfriend. He stayed on the line for 12 minutes.
#35
My openly gay friend (who hasn't come out to his parents yet) pocket called his Dad while talking very loudly about his favourite p***o. He panicked for a week.
Explore more of these tags
What do you think ?
CloPotato 26 minutes ago (edited)
Thankfully, my b**t dials happened in the early days of touchscreens, when the screen locking system wasn't extra efficient, and back then I was a very solitary person and only calling my mom. All the memory was taken by black photos of inside my pocket though. But to this day, I'm scared of accidentally calling an acquaintance or coworker while I'm being silly or badmouthing them. Whenever I'm pissed at someone I take my phone out of my pocket and check it's not calling them before I start ranting.
CloPotato 26 minutes ago (edited)
Thankfully, my b**t dials happened in the early days of touchscreens, when the screen locking system wasn't extra efficient, and back then I was a very solitary person and only calling my mom. All the memory was taken by black photos of inside my pocket though. But to this day, I'm scared of accidentally calling an acquaintance or coworker while I'm being silly or badmouthing them. Whenever I'm pissed at someone I take my phone out of my pocket and check it's not calling them before I start ranting.
Related on Bored Panda
