What would you do? Cell phone harrasment

[faye]

I woke up very early this morning to someone repeatedly calling my cell phone. Guy pretended to be Japanese, but when I spoke a little, he didnt seem to know what I was saying. Anyway, this guy has been calling me nonstop for over an hour now and the things he's saying...well I can take it, but its stuff you wouldnt want your mother or daughter to hear when answering the phone. Im a total newb and I dont have those near little boxes I hear so much about, so I dont know how to take care of the situation on my own.

The number he keeps calling me from is 8613430982994 but one time he slipped up and called me from 213-291-1900. I've looked up the 213 number and he apparently has made a habit of harassing people, but every time I try calling it back, its busy.


I would just change my number, but its a business phone so I cant change it every time this happens....Anyone have suggestions?

[afterburn188]

Re: What would you do? Cell phone harrasment

I would just change my number, but its a business phone so I cant change it every time this happens....Anyone have suggestions?

You could always just block the phone number.

[DJ Jackalope]

Re: What would you do? Cell phone harrasment

and if he leaves you messages when it goes to VM, you have some fun harassment proof. Is the longer number an asterix number or something along those lines? (Technically: would mean he would be abusing those services, grounds to lose his acct. Of course, I know, what's to stop him from getting another.) What are the little boxes you hear so much about? Maybe do a bit more research on the 213 number.

And ugh, that sucks. :/

[Deviant Ollam]

Re: What would you do? Cell phone harrasment

Anyway, this guy has been calling me nonstop for over an hour now

heh, wow... you'd think that after the first 10 or 15 minutes one would just stop answering when that number comes up.

The number he keeps calling me from is 8613430982994 but one time he slipped up and called me from 213-291-1900. I've looked up the 213 number and he apparently has made a habit of harassing people

my bet is that this is someone who is either spoofing his number or possibly the two are unrelated. +86 13430982994 would be a number in China... the 213 number (as far as one can tell from a lookup on telcodata.us) is part of a block in the Los Angeles area controlled by Broadwing Communications (a bandwidth and connectivity provider)

A couple thousand of their alloted numbers were sold off or leased to Nextel, likely for prepaid cells. The rest are likely (in my opinion) to have been part of a pool of no-name pre-paid cells. The people who are posting to internet forums where this number has turned up report all different things... the number being involved in scams, the number being a fax, the number being someone who spoke spanish, etc. It sounds like it's just a short-lease number that keeps re-appearing in the pool in southern california.

I would just change my number, but its a business phone so I cant change it every time this happens....Anyone have suggestions?

well, not answering any foreign numbers would be a good start. It may even be possible for your phone provider to reject any phone call that originates from a non-domestic source (at least as it appears from the ANI data)

ultimately, keeping a phone book entry called "asshole" and just adding any harassing numbers to that user ID may be best. set it with its own specific ringer and vibrate pattern (none and none) and let the calls just vanish. (alternately, you could just keep a really loud whistle near you and if you see that number come up again, answer and blow for all you're worth)

does he leave voicemails? my bet is that after a while of not reaching you directly and getting no rise out of your voicemails he'll just tire and move on.

[Greyhatter]

Re: What would you do? Cell phone harrasment

To add to what Deviant said, this may be a good time to read that tiny thick manual that came with your cell phone. A Samsung cell phone I bought last year will only accept incoming calls from a pre-programed list I determine and no others. This feature also tells who is calling from that list. My older Siemens cell has no such feature.

[xor]

Re: What would you do? Cell phone harrasment

I woke up very early this morning to someone repeatedly calling my cell phone. Guy pretended to be Japanese, but when I spoke a little, he didnt seem to know what I was saying. Anyway, this guy has been calling me nonstop for over an hour now and the things he's saying...well I can take it, but its stuff you wouldnt want your mother or daughter to hear when answering the phone. Im a total newb and I dont have those near little boxes I hear so much about, so I dont know how to take care of the situation on my own.

The number he keeps calling me from is 8613430982994 but one time he slipped up and called me from 213-291-1900. I've looked up the 213 number and he apparently has made a habit of harassing people, but every time I try calling it back, its busy.


I would just change my number, but its a business phone so I cant change it every time this happens....Anyone have suggestions?

Faye I don't necessarily believe in coincidence. I'm assuming you are the female gender from your post and this could very well be someone you know, or someone who thinks they know you. You should listen for clues, does the caller reveal anything that only someone who has met you would know.

If you are really concerned it should be reported to the authorities so at least if it escalates you have already started down the path. It doesn't hurt to contact someone professional who is knowledgeable an explore your options with them.

xor

Actually you already have a clue. Do you have an accent, as you mentioned you speak Japanese? Most Americans sadly wouldn't be able to tell the difference between Chinese, Japanese, and/or Korean. So the fact that the caller spoke or tried to speak Japanese is a clue that they may have seen you or met you. Again I don't think we have ever met and I'm making a lot of assumptions here based on what I've read, sorry if I'm off base. Just trying to help.

[faye]

Re: What would you do? Cell phone harrasment

He started calling me again not long after I went back to bed. This really sucks.

You could always just block the phone number.

Yeah I've heard you can do that, but does anyone actually know how? Cause I sure dont...

and if he leaves you messages when it goes to VM, you have some fun harassment proof. Is the longer number an asterix number or something along those lines? (Technically: would mean he would be abusing those services, grounds to lose his acct. Of course, I know, what's to stop him from getting another.) What are the little boxes you hear so much about? Maybe do a bit more research on the 213 number.

And ugh, that sucks. :/

No, no asterix's. I dont know I read something about different colored boxes in some phreaking manual some where a while back. Not sure what it means.

heh, wow... you'd think that after the first 10 or 15 minutes one would just stop answering when that number comes up.

I did quit answering, but that didnt stop him from calling! And its the same guy, same fake Japanese accent and same crude language.

well, not answering any foreign numbers would be a good start. It may even be possible for your phone provider to reject any phone call that originates from a non-domestic source (at least as it appears from the ANI data)

Ahem! I cant just reject all non local calls you know... Sometimes business comes in from out of town... : P

ultimately, keeping a phone book entry called "asshole" and just adding any harassing numbers to that user ID may be best. set it with its own specific ringer and vibrate pattern (none and none) and let the calls just vanish. (alternately, you could just keep a really loud whistle near you and if you see that number come up again, answer and blow for all you're worth)

One step ahead of you. I've got names and numbers stored in there from every thing from passing around fake bills to kidnapping a girl, to coming up dirty on a background check (and yes, I do that, even in my line of work)

does he leave voicemails? my bet is that after a while of not reaching you directly and getting no rise out of your voicemails he'll just tire and move on.

And no, he doesnt leave voicemail. I havent officially checked my mail, but I dont get those little alerts saying I have new vmail after he calls and gets rejected...

Grrr.... this guy makes me want to reach through the phone and strangle him!

[afterburn188]

Re: What would you do? Cell phone harrasment

Yeah I've heard you can do that, but does anyone actually know how? Cause I sure dont...

I think Greyhatter said it best:

...this may be a good time to read that tiny thick manual that came with your cell phone.

Blacklisting is usually phone dependent. If you purchased the phone from your carrier you can attempt to contact them for support. They might have some other method to deal with these situations. Otherwise google is your friend as is the tech support of the phone maker.

One step ahead of you. I've got names and numbers stored in there from every thing from passing around fake bills to kidnapping a girl, to coming up dirty on a background check (and yes, I do that, even in my line of work)

I'm not sure what you mean by most of that and I'm not sure if you missed deviant's point. The point was to create an entry for the person who has been calling you, add all of the numbers they use to this entry, and that way when you go to answer you will be able to see who it is and ignore them.


I'm slightly confused...you say this:

I did quit answering, but that didnt stop him from calling! And its the same guy, same fake Japanese accent and same crude language.

and then:

And no, he doesnt leave voicemail. I havent officially checked my mail, but I dont get those little alerts saying I have new vmail after he calls and gets rejected...

If you stopped answering and he's not leaving voice mail how do you know it's the same guy? The same number? Then I'd say just do what deviant said and ignore that number and keep letting him hit voicemail. If he won't leave a voicemail then you don't have to hear from him. If what you're saying is true about you not being the only victim of this then obviously the person does it to get a rise out of people. Just ignore the user and they most likely will go away.

Xor made some very good points that you should take to heart. Certain things about this story stand out and point to the fact that the person may have knowledge about you if that is the case. I would just ignore the person rather then risk more things occuring down the road.

Grrr.... this guy makes me want to reach through the phone and strangle him!

I wouldn't if I were you bc then you'd be the one in trouble and not him

[faye]

Re: What would you do? Cell phone harrasment

Yes I know its the same guy because the number that pops up is the same one from this morning. And yeah I might call my carrier about it, maybe they can take it to another level.

[sintax_error]

Re: What would you do? Cell phone harrasment

No, no asterix's. I dont know I read something about different colored boxes in some phreaking manual some where a while back. Not sure what it means.

Don't worry about those. Contact your phone's manufacturer (or consult above mentioned manual) to block the number(s) from your phone directly. If not possible, contact your carrier. Both mentioned above, and both the best course of action if you feel it's a petty douche nozzle playing games. If you feel it's more serious, start a paper trail with local authorities.

[Deviant Ollam]

Re: What would you do? Cell phone harrasment

only accept incoming calls from a pre-programed list I determine and no others.

since that's her business line i doubt that would work... she needs to hear from clients, etc. who are attempting to reach her to book meetings, appointments, etc.

Ahem! I cant just reject all non local calls you know... Sometimes business comes in from out of town... : P

i meant see if your provider can block calls that have non US phone number syntax. calls from overseas. i doubt anyone would need to reach you from their mobile that they brought from another nation, would they? they can just place a call from a phone within the states if that's the case.

I've got names and numbers stored in there from every thing from passing around fake bills to kidnapping a girl, to coming up dirty on a background check (and yes, I do that, even in my line of work)

did you try the thing i mentioned? have them set to a specific ring tone... a slient ring tone with no vibration? that way the phone may blink but it won't disturb you. all you'll have to deal with is a list of "missed calls" in the morning when you get up.

[Greyhatter]

Re: What would you do? Cell phone harrasment

Here's an idea that's worked for me. One phone for business and one for family/friends, both prepaid and no accounts needed. Yea I'm weird, but the cool thing is if my business phone gets hacked in this way I can toss it and get another. My main business phone is a line phone so I can always be reached as needed.

[xarf]

Re: What would you do? Cell phone harrasment

Contact your cell providor, at least they can barr the number. Next report it to the authorities.

[faye]

Re: What would you do? Cell phone harrasment

The guy finally quit after a few days, but I heard from a few girlfriends of mine that it wasn't just me.


PS. And yeah I actually have gotten business from an international phone number... ; )

[converge]

Re: What would you do? Cell phone harrasment

So.. the solid way is this (pretty sure cell is no different).

Contact your telecom and verify that you have the feature enabled to perform a call trace, its usually default for most POTS line configs. Next time it happens run the trace (iirc *51 .. though its been a few years so I may be off). Record a few key infos like the exact time (easy on a cell) and the calling number, etc. Call the police and they can subpoena the telecom info. Should completely solve your problem, in most cases.

Alternately, have a deep-voiced male figure answer the phone and impersonate a cop that is interceding for the above. A little sketchy, but if done well it will scare the shit out of the annoying asshole and they'll just pick another target if not stop for the night altogether.