Phone CallsFollow

Rate up, because I never listen to you :P

I don't think quitting will stop it, maybe stem the flow slightly. If it becomes too much contact the phone company and get the numbers blocked, or go on to the police. Cyber-Harassment is actually an offense here in Australia, not sure about elsewhere, even saying.. Tanta you S** O* A B**** I'm going to kill you, would probably put me in hot water if something did happen and you wanted to follow through.

I'm not saying to goto the feds to nail those involved, go there to get them to contact POL with details of those involved and get POL to send warnings about harassment in game since the number was attained through their program. I wouldn't say witch hunt and ban them all, more just get them in line, show that this kind of stuff shouldn't be tolerated. Hell send them a few membership to WoW, they might take the bait ^^

[Really prepares for rate downs ; ;]

Well, having had a stalker before, I do recognise some of the classics ways in which people can go about getting personal information from someone;

1. Asking their friend, something like; "Hey, you probably don't know me, but I'm friends with *Person*, and I've lost her cell number. Do you know it?"

The answer to this, is that anyone who is asked about information of that should ALWAYS, and I mean ALWAYS CHECK WITH THE PERSON FIRST!! Don't give out any information to anyone without first ensuring that person is ready to give it out. Even if the person asking genuinely has good intentions, there's the possibility that your friend changed her number or blocked him/them for a good reason.

2. In a moment of stupidity, you give away details.

Answer to this... There is no answer, if you're dumb enough to give away your details to someone you don't trust absolutely, you should be excpecting something like this. Just don't give out your details, even if he/she gives you theirs.

3. The person knows you personally and has easy access to information on you.

This one personally happened to me, a mere acquaintance. I won't go into it. There's not a great deal you can do to prevent them getting info on you, the best you can do is notify local authorities, and until the person is dealt with, don't go walking alone in unpopulated areas. Having friends is important, and something like this can make you question your own friends, so make sure you spend time with friends that you trust with your life. It's incredibly scary, otherwise.

Those are the main 3 causes I can think of. Unfortunately, once someone has your details, they're very hard to shake. If they live too far to travel to you, it's not so bad, because if they're really aggravating you can always change your number or block them entirely. After some time, they'll get the idea. (Stalkers can be amazingly dedicated to their targets.) It may take some time.

My prayers go out to your friend, I hope everything turns out well and she can look back on this as a learning experience and have a laugh at it. Blessings to you!

you can sorta, on my old nokia there was a blank phonetone that you could assign to phone numbers. I though it would be funny to assign it to a friend who was in the car with me pranking me. It ended up dropping the incoming calls. Though my phone has other quirks still so it might just be it.

Here is the pertinent info, and your options:

1. Blocking phone number from cell phone-
I receive calls on a daily basis about complaints like this, usually from an exboyf/exgirlf. Unlike landlines (residential and business), cell phone companies are either unable or unwilling to block phone numbers.

2. If he is sending your friend multiple text messages a day, and they are unwanted, you can take legal action. At it's most basic level, it is harrassment which is a criminal offense. Depending on the content of the messages, the offense may be more severe. Such as in the case threats. Both of these should be taken to your local law enforcement agency and reported immediately. The biggest (and most common) problem I see is that people don't take these seriously and neglect to report the crime. Later, when the situation gets worse, the victim doesn't have any documentation to fall back on. Report it! Even if you think it's just a nuissance, report it to keep yourself covered.

3. If your friend's cell phone plan is anything like mine, they only have a certain number of text messages allotted in the plan, and then they are charged for additional texts. If, by act of this harassment, they are costing your friend money, they can be taken to civil court for the monetary damages. You're not going to get a large amount, but it will definitely get the point across. You can add the court costs to suit amount as well. Be warned however, the judge WILL ask for the above mentioned police report. He or she isn't going to help anyone that hasn't already tried to help themselves.

I hope this information is helpful to your friend. And the best of luck!