How can I stop harassment from blocked calls?

[wontpickup]

doesn't matter if they know who the perpetrator is..
800 calls.. voicemails.. threats to kill yourself is evidence of a crime being committed..
Thats enough for them to investigate.

Once Law enforcement is investigating.. they can get the phone company to do their thing.

Not for our local boys in blue. I've submitted a dozen harassment cases in the last few years, nothing is ever done.

 

[wontpickup]

Show the cops your phone.
Did you try that?

Yeah. They tell me to file a harassment report.

I file the report.

They call me back months later and tell me there's nothing they can do.

 

[dontpanicbobby]

What happens if you answer?
I'm trying to understand this.

 

[wontpickup]

doesn't matter if they know who the perpetrator is..
800 calls.. voicemails.. threats to kill yourself is evidence of a crime being committed..
Thats enough for them to investigate.

Once Law enforcement is investigating.. they can get the phone company to do their thing.

Local law enforcement tells me to file a harassment case. I've filed maybe a dozen in ten years. They just call back in a few months saying there's nothing they can do, because the numbers are private and there's no way to prove it's her.

They won't even issue a subpoena to the phone company.

 

[wontpickup]

What happens if you answer?
I'm trying to understand this.

If I answer, they hang up. They never speak to me directly, they just leave the voicemail or call hundreds of times back to back.

 

[dontpanicbobby]

So like a DNS attack. That sux.
Why does she hate you so much?
Divorced and the court agreed with you?

 

[wontpickup]

So like a DNS attack. That sux.
Why does she hate you so much?
Divorced?

Six years ago, I worked at the same company as her. She was dating this guy. She cheated on him, so he left her. A few months later, he and I started dating. She LOST HER MIND. She harassed me into quitting- HR did nothing about her. He and I broke up about 2 years later because she'd continually hassle both of us.

Now, she's with someone else, I'm with someone else, he's with someone else. but she continues this. I just don't get why she hasn't moved on.

 

[srglassw]

Maybe try to contact local TV station Consumer Affairs reporter. They may pick up on your issue and if they do that may get the attention of your phone carrier and the police. They don't like the publicity of a customer having a serious issue and them not doing anything about it.

 

[dontpanicbobby]

If she's still harrasing you after 6 years it's time for a new number IMHO.

 

[tube517]

Use Youmail. It sends a "This number has been disconnected message" and does not go to voicemail.

Best call blocking app I've used.

You will have to change your voicemail to the Youmail app but it is much much better than the carrier's voicemail app.

I have used all the other call blocking apps and none have matched up to Youmail

 

[Groovy Bedlam]

I used to work for AT&T.

If the person is spoofing their caller ID, then you're pretty much screwed. The telephone system was not built with authentication in mind. That combined with calls hopping across networks, it's pretty hopeless for you to be able to identify callers.

Assuming the person is not spoofing their caller ID, and is just using a telco service like *67, then your only recourse is T-Mobile. You cannot unmask this data on the phone because the data is not there in your phone to unmask. However, T-Mobile definitely knows who it is. The data is there for them and if the call goes to an authorized entity like 9-1-1, the number won't be private. So if T-Mobile customer support is not helping you, you need to escalate to someone with better capability. I suggest threatening to switch providers and the customer retention specialist may work on your case. Phone companies hate churn (customers switching back and forth)--it's one of the metrics our business is measured on and it impacts our stock value.

Regardless of what's going on with T-Mobile, I would attack this on multiple fronts. Get a lawyer and have them write a "cease and desist letter". It should mention that you have her voice recorded trying to incite you to kill yourself, and that this is evidence of criminal reckless behavior. The letter should insist on a cease and desist to the calls, and indicate that if this does not occur, there is possibility of a civil suit and the possible penalties for criminal reckless behavior. A lawyer letter is a very common thing that lawyers are used to writing, and it should cost you a flat fee of about $200-$300. It doesn't matter if you do not intend to follow through or not because the point is to scare her straight with the letter.

There is actually a technical solution to what you are asking for. I didn't start with it up front because it's not really meant for cellphones and the learning curve can be pretty big--it's not a simple app. Most businesses with lots of calls have a "PBX", which is a local private telephone network. The PBX provides a massive amount of custom control including automatic routing, interactive voice response (phone menu), more numbers than there are lines (via extensions), and a lot more. But to your point you could configure private calls to not ring and not go to voicemail, but instead just play a recording that your business doesn't accept calls from private numbers. Legitimate callers who have a private number will know to call back with *82, thus "unhiding" their number. Again, this isn't really meant for cellphones, but now that cellphones are powerful computers there is in fact software you can install that emulates a PBX virtually. I have no experience with this, so I cannot recommend one, but I suggest researching PBX software for Android.

 

[psionandy]

You can build yourself a pbx at home... On an old pc and have that sat screening and routing all your calls..

But as groovy says... There are better ways to address the underlying issues

 

[DonB]

Keep in mind, this is an old post thread from 2019