How should I handle a prank caller.(serious)

[clipse]

For the last two weeks (except the last two days) we have been getting a call from the same number. Everytime I answer the person just hangs up. Then, Sat. night my wife answers and some older guy (she said 40's or 50's) just says,"Hi." in a real creepy voice and hangs up.

Before I go further I should mention that I have tried to call the number back and get a fax machine sound. The name that is with the number is "PAYPHONE CONCEPTS". It shows up with a local number.

I called the Sheriff's office, that turned in to a feel good measure and they won't do anything. I called the phone company and they told me that the number was registered to a business. They then told what it probably was. She said that what most likely happened is that a business got a number programed wrong into thier fax machine and it keeps calling us. Roll Eyes I mention the fact that when we answer, we don't get a fax machine sound and most people don't say "hi" over thier fax when someone answers. She still said that it had to be that a number in the fax machine was wrong. I asked if she would tell me who its registered to so I can tell them to stop calling. She said no because is unlisted. I then asked if the phone company could call them and she said that they could only call the number that I gave her. It won't go through to any one. Another dead end.

Yesterday, my wife and I went around town to all the public payphones. We found one that has that number on it in the parking lot of a gas station. Not just any gas station though, its the gas station that is notorious for a cop hangout. Bang Head

The calls are usually between 8-9 at night and have been during the day and even as late as 10:30pm. I'm at my wits end. My wife is a worrier so this is devistating to her.

Any ideas?

clipse

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[CLASS3NH]

Call the PD and TELL them YOU WANT to make a Complaint.........you're recieveing "harrassing Phone calls and you WANT them to write a report... Then........call the Phone Company, speak to the Security Dept......tell them you've made a writne complaint to the PD and you want a TRACER on the line..
Now......when the calls start to come in........YOU log the date time when they came in and the approx duration they lasted......... this can be traced and documented by the Phone Co and the PD............you can then lodge a crimminal complaint against the Company itself, AND the caller, should they be traced.. <and they will be traced> I've done it.......so I know it's possible and it works
The NEXT step is to hang out at the phone booth area with a video cam........if you're lucky.....you can document the time and the person making the call......... video doesn't lie..........and the time/date/phone number on the phone can be documented especially after you video everything at that location.........you could even make a call to the PD while the call was being made........give description and Vehicle ID tags etc........

[Bruces45]

Next time they call just resite what your tatoo says, and wait.

Or you could just do what Bob said as that would be the best way to handle it.

[Rob72]

How much time do you have to spend? If possible, I would hang out, close to the gas station, between 8 and 1030 pm. Use prepaid cell phones, to have your wife call you, when she gets a call (if you don't have seperate cells, in addition to a land-line). Get photos. Get a plate #. It could well be a cop. Depending on your state, a recording may or may not be admissable, as submitted with single-party consent(a tape recorder, auto-switch set up will run you about $100 from RadioShak).

With more concrete "goods", you can push the SO to make a contact with the individual. It may also be possible, with a plate #, to call in an unsafe driving complaint (generates a call-record), and should have home address, home phone, etc., of the plate holder, which can then be accessed as part of public record(When you call in the report, ask for a run/call #, that way you have a reference to look it up- not every place does this with "minor calls"). From there, you can get a restraining order (more to make an announcement to their spouse/job/etc., that there is a problem than for any "protection") This would be something to discuss with an attny.

If it is a LEO, contact the IAD directly, with car #, time of call to your home, and description of the officer, and copies of photos, conversation, etc..

http://www.shomer-tec.com/site/index.cfm has some telephone monitoring devices that could be of assistance. They do work. Good luck!

[QKShooter]

Just call your phone co. have your phone number changed & have it unpublished & unlisted. You can do that with one phone call to your phone service provider.
Then call the people that you want to have your phone # & just give it to them.

Also if you have a phone # of who is calling you then you can also just have that one number BLOCKED.
Nobody will be able to call you from that particular phone.
You can have that one # BLOCKED & still keep your existing Phone #

[CLASS3NH]

When you're recording in Public........everybody's fair game......... the one thing ya can't do is recod thru a window <peeping Tom> or set up something inside somebody's home........... Pre paid cel phones are good........when the call comes in...........you may have somebody there doing it in front of you.........above all TELL NOBODY about what you're doing.........family, friends etc.........cuz you don't know who it is that's making the calls.........I'm a PI and I do this stuff all the time...........catch people doin stuff you'd never believe.......
Get a Sony 8mm video with night shot.........or a mini DV with night shot.......sit in a vehicle away from the area, preferably near parked carsd........and wait..........i do it all the time........BE PATIENT......it may take a few nights...........once you have the culprit.........do it a couple more times to validate what he's doing........write reports on everything you see in the area.........DON'T talk to the PD about it, as it may be one of theirs......just some good PI tips.......from a guy who "busts" em all the time......

[Kat]

Once, a long time ago, I had a girlfriend receiving prank calls. On about the 5th call, after she answered the call and realized it was the "prankster", I had her say into the phone "officer, this is the call". She never got another call after that.

The lunatic on the other end obviously thinks the call is being "traced" and the cops are moving in on them.

Pretty simple and may be worth a "shot".

[PatrioticRick]

Man you all are nice. If you look on caller I.D. and it's the number, air horn the SOB, Only takes once

[Gelicious]

If it were me. I would wait by that pay phone every night untill he calls again and when i get a signal from the wifey, I would be so far up that guys "grill" he wouldnt know which end to poop from. Im a 6'2 300lb monster when someone messes with my family. I doubt he would do it again.


But im not suggesting you act that way. Your gut and your common scence will tell you what to do..

[dpesec]

Yes the local telco can trace the number as can local LE.

I suspect you'll find the number is at a small business. That sounds like a company that provides private pay phones.

You might also see if you have a call back option, you could wait a few minutes after the last call and then call the number. Somebody should answer and you might have the creep.

[WorldPax]

I see someone beat me to the airhorn suggestion.

+1 on the airhorn.

[GoodSamaritan]

I know you said you found a payphone with that number, but this might be worth a try. Have you tried sending a fax to that number?

Also, see if you can talk the store manager into checking the security camera tapes, from the time in question.

[nitrogen]

(phone geek speaking)

It's probably a customer-owned and operated payphone. i.e. one rented out by a business, and they get a cut of the profits. If you call the number on it, you'll get a data modem; it's how some of the companies that operate them keep tabs on the phone.

I used to get telephone harassed a lot in high school (which is when I started learning about phones.)
The best, legal, easy way is just answer the phone "Special Agent Stevens" when you see the number. Or have your wife answer it the same way. It might just scare the excrement out of someone.

Then, there's always the alternatives. If someone was stalking my wife, i'd probably respond in a way that i'd be ill-advised to advise anyone else to do.

Call the phone company. You should be able to get them to block the number, and you might have an option called "Phone Trace"
In some locations, you can hit *57 and it'll automatically "trace" the call and make it easier to provide to law enforcement. There's usually a charge for it, so look into it before you use it.

If you feel comfortable doing so, PM me the phone number; there's a slight chance I might be able to find out more about it if it's the kind of payphone I think it might be.

[PatrioticRick]

*60 "Call Rejection" blocks unwanted calls

[Miggy]

*60 "Call Rejection" blocks unwanted calls

Which comes as standard feature in many women I tried to date when I was younger