Girlfriend getting pest calls

LegacyUser

My girlfriend has been getting pest calls. I have been with her 10 months and in this time she has got about 5-6 of these calls. They all seem to happen on a Sunday nite, which tells me this coward gets lagered up during the day and rings her. They all happen after midnight. He withholds his number. Usually he stays silent but once he said ''You have a sexy voice''
When i grab the phone he immediately hangs up.
Last night, about midnight, he rang but this time he made the mistake in not hiding his Call I.D and sent his number. He hung up when she anwered , then he rang back again, still not knowing he was sending his ID. The second i picked up he hung up. I rang him back immediately and he wouldnt answer.I rang him back three times but he kept giving me the 'Number busy' tone. I text him from my phone asking why he was pestering my girlfriend and i have his number and i'm going to the police with it. He never text back, he's probably sh*tting himself today.
Thing is though, the police will just fob me off, so i ask you, is there any way I can get this guys details from just his mobile number. He's on the vodafone network ( i think) as he's 087, but i know you can be on a different network and still have the vodafone prefix.

Any help guys

Cheers in advance

Marksie

and what would you do with these details? Violence, threats?

Go to the police, go to your g/friends service provider and report the number,
go to his service provider and report the number.

Do not try the macho thing and handle it yourself.

Which is a good time to remind people that
a) advocating violence will get you banned.
b) advocating illegal acquisition of personal details will get you banned and the thread locked

meditraitor

Marksie wrote: »

Go to the police, go to your g/friends service provider and report the number,
go to his service provider and report the number.

This is the only advise you need dude!

Good luck anyway

LegacyUser

Marksie wrote: »

and what would you do with these details? Violence, threats?

Go to the police, go to your g/friends service provider and report the number,
go to his service provider and report the number.

Do not try the macho thing and handle it yourself.

Which is a good time to remind people that
a) advocating violence will get you banned.
b) advocating illegal acquisition of personal details will get you banned and the thread locked

no not at all, i'm not a violent person and have no intention of going on some crusade when i have the details
The thing is, this is obviously someone that knows her, i have a feeling it may be her ex from 2 years ago, he's a tad strange.
I would just like to name and shame him

LB6

Get her to change her number - tell the provider of the prank calls and she wants a new number - it wont be a problem - end of pest calls.

Can be done in a matter of 2 hrs - trust me!

LegacyUser

LB6 wrote: »

Get her to change her number - tell the provider of the prank calls and she wants a new number - it wont be a problem - end of pest calls.

Can be done in a matter of 2 hrs - trust me!

How does one go about changing her number

horgan_p

in these situations it is imperative that you keep the head.
if you threaten him, then you'll be in as much hassle as him.
calm down before speaking to him.be clear ,concise (sp?) and coherent.
do not swear at any stage.
remember , if you get dragged down to his level then he has as much complaint against you as your gf does against him.

if you do speak to him (prob not a good idea) explain rationally that your gf has told you that she is frightened and disturbed by his calls. explain that the calls are unwanted.if you can do this in front of a 3rd party (speakerphone) then all the better.explain that if the calls persist then she will take it further.
leave it at that.if he asks "are you threatening me ?" tell him that no you are not - all you are doing is explaining the situation to him.

in short , tread lightly.

Nevyn

Pi**ed off wrote: »

How does one go about changing her number

It depends on what type phone account she has, she should get in touch with who ever her phone is with and explain and request a new sim with a new number.

Zulu

Keep a whistel by the phone. When he ring - blow hard.

dade

Marksie wrote: »

go to your g/friends service provider and report the number,

best option, if the number is on their network they can issue a warning it's probably against that terms of use, also they will be able to get a log of the calls from him to your GFs number and provide it to the police if needed.

if he's on a different network her service provider should still be able to help out firstly by issuing a complaint to his provider, she should also ask them to block any incoming calls from that number to her. not sure if they can do that but it's worth a try. a lot better than the hassle of changing numbers, then if he changes numbers and keeps contacting her the police will have to act coz it's not like he's just drunk and acting the idiot he actively changed his number and that would be harassment etc.

Don't approach this guy be it via phone or what ever, don't contact him from your phone coz you could be accused of harassing him.

you could try sticking his number up in some phone boxes and see how he likes late night phone calls. but probably not a good idea in hind sight.

LB6

P'd off

like i said - get her to make a phone call to her provider. Let her explain the situation in detail - you wont be able to do it for her. Like I said - it's not an issue - I tried the gardai route - they said keep logs etc etc - it would be weeks b4 they would be able to do anything about it. So I changed the number. Done in 2 hours.

LegacyUser

she wont change her number, she says why should she. That she's not going to let one weirdo influence what she does with her phone.
On one hand i can see her point, but on the other hand i'm fuming, i dont need this kind of strife in my life and we're currently at loggerheads over it
maybe the weirdo has achieved his goal

dudara

Surely the network operator can block this number from calling her? That way she won't have to change her number

LB6

Probably - she's right in one way.

So if she's not going to bother changing her number, all she has to do then is turn her phone off at night time.

I wouldnt even contemplate going down the track of confronting the idiot. Like you said - he's achieving what he probably set out to do in the first place. Dont' drop yourself in the same **** by lowering yourself to his level!

Best of luck

conical

I'm not suggesting violence or even that you confront this guy, but I know if it were me, I'd want to know who was doing it.

If you ring the number from a landline/different networks the beeps before the call connects should tell you if he's on another network. If you haven't already done so, see if he has a voicemail set up by calling 087 5 xxx xxxx. Also he may answer if it's during the day, so you could see if you can bluff some details out of him (eg: "Hi John?" ... "No it's ....") you never know, it could work!

My next port of call would be google. If he uses his phone for work or if he has ever sold a car etc. online it's quite likely it's still out there on the net somewhere. Remember to allow for different spacing in the way a number might be typed. This can help you build up a picture of who you're dealing with. Considering it's probably someone known to your gf, any details you find might start to point someone out.

Jeez, how/why do I know all this. Anyway, it has worked for me in the past :cool:

Good luck

-C

the_syco

dudara wrote: »

Surely the network operator can block this number from calling her? That way she won't have to change her number

From previous threads on a similar topic, I don't think they can.

OP: get the police to have a word with the prank caller. Also, don't mention the words "prank" to the police, instead mention the word "harassment" It may not sound different, but harassment is usually taken more seriously.

Gumbyman

Howdy,

First of all hard luck. Annoying situation. Just on the changing number option - I completely agree with your gf that she should not have to change her number. It is a royal pain in the as. Easy to physically do it but then everybody has the old number and will be trying to reach her on if for years. Depends on how long she has had the current number but if you suspect the ex of 2 years ago then I suspect quite a while. Try not to get annoyed with her about this. Misdirected frustration. Easier said than done I know.....

I personally would try the cops first, then if that fails take the (rather clever) actions described by conical above.

humanji

Well, you have the guys number, so go to your provider and tell them what's going on. They can easily block the number and they may follow it up. Telling the gardai is the other option, but as was said above, it could be weeks before they do anything.

Gyalist

BTW, did your girlfriend ask you to handle the situation or did you just take it upon yourself because you are the man?

Doctor DooM

I have worked for a phone company and have suffered these types of calls myself.

1) write down every incident of him calling.

2) Go to the gardai. They take it very seriously. This is important because

3) Unless there is a request from the Gardai, a mobile network provider cannot legally hand out information about a subscriber.

Be aware that if it is a prepay phone, his details might not necessarily be registered. This is usually the case with pests.

I would also like to point out that the best way to deal with this is nearly universally simple: Ignore him.

Phone pests are just like trolls here. They thrive on attention- any attention.

Answer the phone, then put it down, dont listen and get on with your life. Let him hear you dont care and are not listening. Any response he gets what he wants. He'll soon give up in frustration.

LegacyUser

Gyalist wrote: »

BTW, did your girlfriend ask you to handle the situation or did you just take it upon yourself because you are the man?

No not at all like that. i'm 26, she's 21.
She keeps saying after it happpens
''If it happens again i'll do something''
She wants to block it out
Strange thing is though, it happened her sister as well, went on for about 4 months, then all of a sudden in stopped
I'd rather nip this in the bud rather than getting woke up at night by some tanked up weirdo fiddling his taws

l3LoWnA

I wouldn't do ANYthing about it and I'd imagine it's bothering you aLOT more then your girlfriend. It's her phone! Let her take it further if it's bothering or frightening her. Are you with her EVERY Sunday night? I'm being extremely suspicious but could this be a Sunday booty call she has - how does she react to the calls when you're not there?! If I'm totally off-mark and you trust her completely I apologise!

This guy or whoever is calling is obviously not trying to harrass your girlfriend as he's not even blocking his number. Dial the number with a (5) between the 087 and the 12345678. Then you'll hear his message minder and chance putting in #0000#. Lots of people dont have a password set so you might be able to listen to his messages and figure out who he is. There might even be a message from your girlfriend on there j/k

I know a guy who was getting "mysterious" calls like that - turned out he was having an affair. He never wanted to do anything about the prank calls (I wonder why!!) That's possibly what I'm basing my suspicions on so sorry if I'm wrong.

You could ask your girlfriend to change her number!

Gyalist

You gave the answer to my question in your last reply. Just leave her to sort it out herself unless she specifically asks you to get involved. If she felt that she was in any physical danger she would take action. Don't for one moment assume that she is some delicate little flower who can't handle the situation. If she's not so bothered by the calls that she wants to take some action to stop them, why are you getting so worked up about them?

Do you think that she might even be enjoying the drama?

jubi lee

if was getting harrassed, i'd change my number... it's very easy to do and will cause your gf no hassle...

if she doesn't wanna do that, well then she obviously isn't being that 'harrassed' if you know what i mean...


let her sort it out..

LegacyUser

not a sunday booty call haha
we live together and even before that she trusts me implicitly as i do with her
its just some weirdo.
No, she doesnt enjoy the drama, not at all. Its unwanted attention and it gets to me because its not just her getting woke up at all hours , its me as well.

l3LoWnA

Pi**ed off wrote: »

not a sunday booty call haha
we live together and even before that she trusts me implicitly as i do with her
its just some weirdo.
No, she doesnt enjoy the drama, not at all. Its unwanted attention and it gets to me because its not just her getting woke up at all hours , its me as well.

So ask her to change her number or turn her phone off @ night-time then! If it's really unwanted she should be glad to do either and if anyone needs ye they can ring your phone - problem solved!

LegacyUser

l3LoWnA wrote: »

So ask her to change her number or turn her phone off @ night-time then! If it's really unwanted she should be glad to do either and if anyone needs ye they can ring your phone - problem solved!

she actually said she would switch her phone off at night, but again, why should she
i rang vodafone and they said they can only discuss third party info with the guards
my gf's mothers mate is a cop, he might be able to trace the freak down

the reason i'm getting so worked up about this is because we live in such a ****ed up world.
look at the poor swiss girl 2 weeks ago
theres some right nutters out there, what starts off as a pest call could turn into something far more serious and i dont want to take the chance

l3LoWnA

Well as you've already found out that Vodafone won't give any info I'd discuss it with your girlfriend and go to the gardai together if that's what ye both want. And record every time the person rings, what he says etc in case it does get worse or there's ever a court case. but I'd discuss it all with your gf and make sure she wants to go ahead etc.

SarahSassy

Pi**ed off wrote: »

she actually said she would switch her phone off at night, but again, why should she

Because if she does, the prank caller will not get a reaction and he / she will eventually give up... Its quite simple really.

There are 2 choices - a) ignore his calls or b) keep reacting to him and feeding his sick enjoyment. Your choice.

Doctor DooM

SarahSassy wrote: »

Because if she does, the prank caller will not get a reaction and he / she will eventually give up... Its quite simple really.

There are 2 choices - a) ignore his calls or b) keep reacting to him and feeding his sick enjoyment. Your choice.

Exactly what I said which I note the OP ignored, despite intimate knowledge of the situation...

coolhandc

this happened with my girlfriend too and she got very upset about it.i got her to divert the number to my phone.and after a while the little fcker went away.these people are very sad.id love to find out who does it.they would get an unpleasant suprise i can tell you

DD

Tell her to call her provider and ask if she can get their help to lock his access to her number, they surely can do it.
Or she can keep her phone on silent at nite, im very sure the guy will give up, he wants attention and since u got angry and called him back he got what he wanted, if hes not paid attention he will give up eventually, but wont be soon, just have patience, im sure he will find another victim, unless its going on smth btw them or had been smth,
There's no need to change the number...only if she doesnt her number anymore .

craichoe

Had a similar problem myself, went to the gardai, they said get stuffed basically.

So i got a new number
Then put the old phone on divert to the local garda station.

As soon as it became their problem they put the number on surveillance with Vodafone and waited for the person to call again. Getting through to the Gardai a few times was enough to put the ****s up him and it all stopped.

If you really wanted to find out who this person is, what i did was walk into a Vodafone shop and ask if i was eligible for an upgrade, gave the number and they pulled up the details on the screen.

craichoe

Pi**ed off wrote: »

she actually said she would switch her phone off at night, but again, why should she
i rang vodafone and they said they can only discuss third party info with the guards
my gf's mothers mate is a cop, he might be able to trace the freak down

the reason i'm getting so worked up about this is because we live in such a ****ed up world.
look at the poor swiss girl 2 weeks ago
theres some right nutters out there, what starts off as a pest call could turn into something far more serious and i dont want to take the chance

Thats not true, Eircom, Vodafone, O2 or any provider will not give the Gardai information without a Court Order. If they did they are violating the Data Protection Act.

Also I don't think your GF's mothers mate would get involved, any garda will tell you its a conflict of interest. The garda you report it to is the one who will deal with the case.

coolhandc

craichoe wrote: »

gave the number and they pulled up the details on the screen.

how did you give them a number if the sad bstard is using a private number?

An Citeog

coolhandc wrote: »

how did you give them a number if the sad bstard is using a private number?

Read the OP's post. He has this guys number.

OP, just leave him a voicemail telling him that you have his number and that if he ever calls again you'll be going straight down to your local Garda station. Better yet, let your gf do it. At least then he'll be hearing it straight from the horse's mouth, so to speak!

coolhandc

Pi**ed off wrote: »

He withholds his number.

???

humanji

coolhandc wrote: »

???

Read the entire thread. He said that the caller forgot to block it one time.

romarr

craichoe wrote: »

Had a similar problem myself, went to the gardai, they said get stuffed basically.

So i got a new number
Then put the old phone on divert to the local garda station.

As soon as it became their problem they put the number on surveillance with Vodafone and waited for the person to call again. Getting through to the Gardai a few times was enough to put the ****s up him and it all stopped.

If you really wanted to find out who this person is, what i did was walk into a Vodafone shop and ask if i was eligible for an upgrade, gave the number and they pulled up the details on the screen.

evil genius !

Anti

SImple thing to do here, since you or your girlfriend are doing feck all to sort this out. Grab her phone and trash it. And buy her a new phone.

Or do the simple thing, go to the guardai and tell them some one on that number is hassling you. You can get him kicked form the network. As he is in breach of his contract. But then again he can simply buy a new phone and carry on. So the only thing to do is change numbers.

star-pants

Question OP -- Has he contacted since you texted him that night?

I had a guy calling from a private number asking dirty questions etc.. I kept ignoring him / hanging up / telling him to go away. So I asked a friend who works in the phone network I'm with (o2) and he said to tell the caller that I'd contacted the networks & the gardai & they would be tracking him down soon. I didn't get another call after that.

He also said that if it persisted - I could go to the gardai - explain the situation & they would be able to get in touch with the network etc..
Now I see someone has said that the gardai told them to get stuffed -- but I'm sure if you persist with them you might get somewhere.
Although if you ask the network to perhaps block his number - again explain the situation.

Or you could get your gf to get a pay as you go sim -- just for a few weeks -- so it looks like her old ones out of service -- and then swap back and he might have buggered off by then. My friend had to do that with an ex (unfortunately he also had her house number).

coolhandc

the fact is these cnuts are getting away with this sort of crap for a long time,someone needs to teach them a lesson.something has to be done,or else they just keep on going after they get their "kicks" out of this girl.what the hell can be done to stop them though?!

star-pants

coolhandc wrote: »

the fact is these cnuts are getting away with this sort of crap for a long time,someone needs to teach them a lesson.something has to be done,or else they just keep on going after they get their "kicks" out of this girl.what the hell can be done to stop them though?!

I agree - it would be great if there was a way to teach them a lesson but unfortunately there isn't really much you can do -- apart from report them (if possible) -- you can't exactly go around giving people a hiding.
They are sad sad individuals who do this sort of thing... who clearly have nothing better to do.
*shudder* I'm just lucky that guy got lost when I told him the gardai were after him.