Harassment by phone happens at various levels to everybody at some stage of their life. Some people experience mobile or telephone harassment from telecallers while others get stalked by psychotic people. Whatever the reason is, harassment by phone can be avoided to a certain extent with proper help from the concerned departments.
It is important to understand what falls under the category harassment before you categorize a call as threatening, nuisance, or decide to seek help. Prank calls do not fall under the category of harassment. A bunch of teenagers or a drunkard dialing a random number and threatening the person who picks up are hard to trace. They will be excused with a simple warning even if they are traced.
However, constant torture through phone which occurs every day or quite frequently is a nuisance. Here are some common categories of harassment defined by the FTC:
- Calling a person constantly until they pick up
- Leaving several voice messages
- Talking in a threatening tone or blackmailing to do something against the victim’s will
- Talking in a degrading manner using obscene language
- Insulting the person right away, calling a number of times
- Calling a person and not answering or simply breathing to intimidate them
- Sending obscene images through mobile
- Talking sexually or insulting a person’s sexual preference, performance etc.
- Targeting a person’s belief, like religion or community, and insulting their beliefs or mocking them through frequent phone calls.
- Calling a person and playing recordings of dirty talk
All these ten categories fall under harassment through the phone. A person can complain to the FTC, the CISA or the telephone provider that provides your connection. They will be able to able to help you
- Track the caller
- Trace their home or place from where they make the calls
- Arrest them based on their crime
Am I Being Harassed Over the Phone?
Most of the victims who fall prey to telephone harassment have a severe doubt whether they are overreacting. They simply could not make out whether it is a friend or a sibling prank calling them or a real stalker threatening them. There are three major ways to find out.
- The call appears from multiple numbers and often at the same time of the day
- The harassing person is straightforward about making you do something non-respectable. For example, blackmailing you to pose for them in the webcam.
- The caller has a very cool, aloof and subtle way of making you feel the fear.
If you are getting such calls frequently do the following steps:
- Enquire with your friends, siblings and work colleagues regarding the calls and ask them to be honest with you.
- Use Nuwber to find out who might be calling you. Type the number and see what comes up on that person.
- File a formal police complaint and contact your telephone provider with the complaints. Ask the telephone provider to place a “trap” on your telephone line.
- Change your number and let the other number be in use to track the harasser. Leave a voice message warning the line is being tracked.
- If you attend the harassing person’s call again, simply say, “operator, this is the person bothering me” and hang up. The people listening to your call from the telephone providing company will trace the number immediately.
- Do not encourage the person on the other end in any way. Cut the call immediately when you hear their voice.
- If they are using blackmail to make you succumb to their wishes, state assertively you will not do what they say.
- If you feel you are in a vulnerable position and the details they will disclose might harm you or your future, take steps to resolve it. For example, tell your family members about the issue.
- Deny the false claims the harasser is using straightaway. It is your vulnerability they target and there isn’t much of a game for them if you are not bothered by their call.
- When you report to the police give all the important details you have noted like how the person sounded, what his age might be, was there any dialects etc.
- Check whether anybody in your circle you irked unintentionally is doing this. Round up the suspects with the help of the police and rule out the innocent.
Harassment Through Phone – Getting Private Help
When you approach the police department or your telephone operator, they might sometimes neglect your fear as unwanted. Oftentimes, the police will agree it is harassment only if the telephone assault goes on for weeks.
Some smart stalkers call and torture you continuously or for a few weeks and stay silent for a month or two. They will start anytime again and bother you again for a few weeks. Their problem will not get solved until you find out who it is and get them punished.
Seek the help of the private detectives or cyber security providing companies in such cases. They will use advanced call tracking software to find out who is doing this. They will operate in a way similar to the police, by mapping all the possible suspects and eliminating them one by one based on their innocence.
If you have changed your phone and your number is still targeted, check the handful of people you have given the new number and find out who among them is doing the mischief.
Prevention Is the Best Cure
Always be careful about disclosing your core details to strangers. Do not fill your mobile number in fairs, raffle contests and everywhere they ask.
Trust only legitimate websites. Use antivirus software like Norton which will warn if the website you are entering is suspicious. Avoid downloading too many apps on your mobile and do not give permission for all the apps to access your contact details.
These small steps will go a long way in keeping you safe from leaking your mobile number to unwanted people and staying protected from phone and mobile harassment.