I get lots of prank calls because my phone number is widely out there. I want to find out who they are and how to stop it. most the time i get the prank calls are late at night and private. Some prank calls are threatening.
2006-08-04 19:22:38 · 17 answers · asked by Geoff 1 in Consumer Electronics ➔ Cell Phones & Plans
Threatening prank calls? Sounds like you've got a police report to file there. That should put a quick end to them.
2006-08-04 19:27:49 · answer #1 · answered by RatherTallFella 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
A few possibilities:
1)Don't interact in any way; hang up without responding the instant you know it is a stranger. People who make such calls are often deluded and mentally inflate anything, imagining they have a big affect on you. I've had my share of prank calls. They are usually harmless, and it may be someone who wants you to get into a game by trying to find who they are. It rarely matters, unless you have concrete reason to believe a known person is harrassing you. Right now, I suspect you are letting your thoughts about the calls occupy too much of your time. It is a nuisance, but very common these days.
2) Place a curt message on your answering machine and turn off your ringer. Pick up only if it is someone you know. That way you will not be bothered by the ringing phone and will not ever speak to the harasser. Then they often just hang up and may lose interest. If they leave messages, then you have a record, in case of the extremely rare instance where it is someone who is dangerous. Once you've established that you don't recognize a voice, there is no point in giving the delusioned any more attention. If you get calls at odd times, like the middle of the night, pick up without saying anything and silently stay on the line until they hang up. Sometimes this method tricks people into thinking you have some kind of trace on the call. If they don't hang up before you get spooked, then just turn off your ringer at night and don't answer.
3)Of course, the phone company will change your phone number and leave no forward once a year at no cost, when the reason is phone harassment; even get an unlisted number.
There is a program where the phone company will work with you to get to a source, but it is a total hassle, usually not worth it, because they ask you to write a log of every unknown caller for at least a month, maybe three.
4) Have an unlisted number for personal calls and keep the current number for business. Don't answer the business phone; leave a brief message request for names and phone numbers.
The most important thing of which to be careful is thinking that the caller is someone you might want to know. For non-threatening calls, it can be simply normal to give the person the benefit of the doubt, and find something intriguing about it. The only way to stop prank calls is if you know without any doubt that it is not about you. They don't care who are you, just that they get their imaginary thrill.
Best of luck!
2006-08-07 13:21:55 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well if your unsure how your phone # got out to the public then that's a problem in itself..You have many options
1) Call your carrier and have your # changed
2) Contact your local authorities so that they can pull up the LUD's on your phone to find out where the calls are generating from and some how and get those #'s blocked from calling your phone....
3) Call your carrier and ask if they have a feature that rejects blocked #'s or unidentified #'s...If they do not have such a feature then your best bet is to pick option 1 or 2....
And next time please b careful whom you give ur # out to....Cuz I had to learn the hard way that not every1 is your friend and the people you trust are ones who will betray you the most....
So good luck with all that cause that is definitly drama you do not need in your life
2006-08-04 19:32:56 · answer #3 · answered by Mz. Sipp Sipp 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well I think the solution to stopping prank calls is to change your phone number or if you don't want to do that then cut your house phone off and get a cell phone.Or either cut the ringer off before you go to bed.
2006-08-04 19:30:56 · answer #4 · answered by Britney G 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋
get a coaches whistle and when the jerk starts his crap blow as hard as you can in the phone---it got my prank calls to stop right away ----so they are deaf--I can sleep now >>>>now if you can handle this one when they start talking go for it be nasty ask em what kind of panties they are wearing and if they will let you shi* on their face cause you like it and see what they do --I cant wait to try that one LMAO
2006-08-04 19:29:07 · answer #5 · answered by karlyk721 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If you don't already have caller-ID, get it.
If you do have caller-ID and you're getting these calls, but they show up on your caller-ID unit "anonymous" or "no information" or the like, then call your phone company and ask them how you can set up anonymous call rejection on your line.
Works every time!
2006-08-04 19:27:49 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Call your phone company and have them block all unidentified calls. If that fails, change your number. Good luck.
2006-08-04 19:28:17 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yea you should just change your number. Its too much of a hassle of its that widespread. Cops wouldn't really do anything about it other than trace calls, but if they are different people then there's no point of it.
2006-08-04 19:27:19 · answer #8 · answered by gnomef0cker 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
if your with cingular you can get detailed billing and even if the # is private when they call it still shows up i dont know if who ur with does but i would sure find out and you can take out a police report and get money for harassment or u could change your #
2006-08-04 19:29:44 · answer #9 · answered by dennis w 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Forward your phone to 911
2006-08-04 19:26:00 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋