prank phone calls

[gingerflaps]

over the last 3 weeks i have been getting lots of prank phone calls where the caller says nothin then when i speak they hang up the phone, it started with my house phone (which is ex-directory) then a couple of weeks later it has started with my mobile phone. is there anyway of knowing who this is coz its driving me crazy, i dont want to change my number if i dont have to. is there a chance of someone getting it off the net if i have had to put my details into a site where i have purchesed something????

[oxeyedaisy]

i suppose it could have come off the net..but i doubt it..bt may help you if your home phone belongs to them...a short time ago i signed up for telephone preferance..as someone on here suggested it..but in your case no one speaks..you could also have a bar put on for people dialling without their number showing then you would know who it was as the number would register...when you dialled 1471..then you could find out the owner of the calls..i cant help you with the mobile as i dont know if you can bar on them..

[hugoboss]

www.tps.co.uk -register with them, and they will take your number off any marketing/mailing lists type things. however, if this is a person making prank calls, and not just an annoying company - they i would recommend calling your service provider, i.e. BT or mobile network and ask their advice. good luck

[hugoboss]

sorry, should have checked that web address...correct one is www.tpsonline.org.uk

[bernardo]

One solution for nuisance calls is to not say anything at all - wait for the other person to speak first (which most legitimate callers would do eventually).  If you realise that it is the nuisance caller, don't say anything back to them - just put the phone down.  Or better still, put down the receiver (off the hook) so that it continues to increase the phone bill for whoever is calling.

[silly moo]

a referee's whistle works well !

[flaming]

If you are with BT listen to BT's options, 150. There used to be one about nuisance calls  They can intercept if the nuisance has reached a certain level.  Make a note of past troubles - when they started etc.. The 1471 will probably reveal that a caller who left no number rang.  You might have put an ad. in a paper with your nos. to sell something. They might call from a pay-phone leaving your phone off the hook will only use up the remainder of the money inserted for that one call.

[jake-the-peg]

I believe that some of the telemarketing systems work by calling numbers from their database until they get a human answering the phone, then they check for a free call centre operative - if one is free they are connected through with any details - if not they just drop the line.

It save the call centre staff from wasting time ringing numbers that don't answer.

Like Hugoboss says register with TPS then if anybody calls your number to direct sell you you can report them - although it can be tricky with the increasing number of foreign desks. I don't receive anything like the number of these sorts of call since I registered.

The newer ones that just play you a recorded message are harder though they don't tell you who they are but just try to get you to ring a number.

Filthy Marketing Weasels!

[ICEMANSAV]

I was going to say exactly what jake-the-peg said. It should be illegal to call this way, I imagine old women and men being quite afraid of that scenario.

[jake-the-peg]

Given that the call centre is probably in Delhi the marketing company in the states and the money in an off-shore tax haven, you can pass all the laws you like!

There's no point in passing a law you're powerless to enforce

[misska]

I would say that its probably someone you know, that you have given your numbers to or who had access to your numbers, say through work or something. If you can identify who it is by finding out what number they are calling from then maybe you can do something about it, bt should be able to help with that. If they are calling from pay phones then its a little more difficult but I'm sure they'll get sick of it soon as it would cost too much money. Some of the suggestions above sound good - waiting for them to talk first and then whistling down the phone would probably work. Good luck!

[annavc]

Thanks for the link hugoboss I've just registered.  We've been getting driven mad by these companies - coming home in the evening to 6 or 7 messages a day on the answerphone and getting sometimes as many as 5 calls every evening - all trying to sell something or get you to take part in a survey.  We had been thinking about changing the number but hopefully this will work.

[BigDogsWang]

Many years ago, my girlfriend and I used to live in rented accommodation in Luton. We started receiving 'quiet' phone calls, but you could tell someone was on the other line. I never used to answer the phone (I wasn�t supposed to be living there!!), so suggested to my GF that she blow a whistle as loud as possible. But amazingly the idiot on the other end started blowing one back!

The calls started getting a bit more sinister with the caller making sexual noises.
Then I thought of an idea. We waited for the phone to ring one evening. My GF answered in the normal way, and repeatedly asked who it was. She then handed the phone to me, and I said in a loud authoritarian voice:

"This is Luton Police, call successfully traced".

Never heard another thing from them.

[camelherder]

Hi G

Do you have an answer machine for your home phone? If so do just let all your calls come through the machine. Yes it will be a bit of a bind ringing people back but whoever is pestering you will soon get fed up talking to a machine! Sorry can't help with the mobile side though.

Do you work? I would start there to find out who is behind it.

CH

[Ralph]

jake-the-peg has it. It's a call centre trying to maximise the time their operators are on the phone selling stuff. Their computer makes 10 calls but they've only got 8 operators available at that time to talk, so 2 of them will be silent and get dropped. Sometimes you can pick up and there will be no one there for a second or two before the person comes on and tries to sell you stuff.
A friend of mine did this sort of work one summer in Canada. He said it was relentless. He'd just have said goodbye from one call (or got hung up on) when the next one would be connected instantly with the persons details popping up on the screen in front of him. Nasty job.

[shaz-rla]

Thanks hugoboss, I too have just registered with tps, had an afternoon and evening of nobody at the end of the line calls!