From: luigi@paris.CS.Berkeley.EDU (Luigi Semenzato)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Phone Harassment (a New Solution?)
Date: 8 Nov 92 01:43:44 GMT
Organization: University of California, Berkeley
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 829, Message 4 of 9

This must have come up so many times that I am almost ashamed to ask
(but, as you see, I am doing it anyhow).

My friend George has been receiving a very large number of harassing
telephone calls.  The caller never says anything, but if George speaks
to him, he (let's assume it's a he) will not hang up -- so it is not
likely to be some piece of machinery with a glitch.

He gets several calls a day, in the evening, mostly at times that seem
to coincide with TV commercials (on the hour and the 1/2 hour).  The
calls typically start at eight and stop around midnight, but sometimes
they go on longer.

He has called Pacific Bell, who has offered to change his number for
free -- but that's a nuisance.  He has also called the local police.
They will handle the matter at one condition: George must log all
calls (day and time) for a week.  With this information, the police
will contact PacBell and find the calling number.  In the end, George
does not get to know who is calling, but presumably the police will
warn the offender.

This area (Oakland, CA) does not offer call ID, but there is another
service that comes in handy: selective call forwarding.  It costs 3.50
a months, and the subscriber can request that certain numbers be
forwarded to any number of the subscriber's choice.  It also works
this way: the subscriber may call the operator and say: `I'd like to
forward all calls from the person who just called to xxx-xxxx', where
xxx-xxxx is some disconnected number.  The subscriber does not get to
know who called -- that's confidential (even though in this
circumstance he would have the full right to know) -- but nonetheless,
the harasser is now virtually neutralized.

To George, having the police warn this person, or cutting him off with
the selective forwarding, is all the same; neither as satisfactory as
knowing who the person is -- not for revenge, but out of a compelling
curiosity, as he suspects it may be someone he knows.

Can anybody suggest other options?  


Thanks,

Luigi


[Moderator's Note: Illinois Bell will put a trap on a line to catch
the person involved, but only on one condition: you must first give
them a written okay to turn their evidence over to the police and
agree to prosecute the offender ... no exceptions. IBT won't get in
the middle of it; it could be a total stranger, some sick person or
perhaps someone you know -- a relative or a 'friend'.  IBT won't do a
trap and play detective for you just to satisfy your curiosity.
Niether is it possible to 'tell the operator to forward the last call
you received to a non-working number ...' or other such shenanigans.
You can have Call Screening here if desired, (*60 in many areas) and
have the last call received added to the reject list whether or not
you know the number of the caller. After such a call is received, you
must immediatly dial *60 #01# to add the number. I have found Call
Screening to be the most workable solution for me.  PAT]