[hey its me]

I found out a few days ago, informally meaning not by the police or a summons or anything, that I am being accused of prank calling someone (whom I don't even know) multiple times over the past few months. This person is claiming that the police gave them a copy of my cell phone records after they had traced the calls back to me.

Is this even legal? I understand that the authorities, with a subpoena for probable cause, can get a copy of my records, but could the police then hand them over to the third-party accuser? Wouldn't the police investigate and prosecute on their own, if necessary? If this person is telling the truth, and does have copies of my phone records, isn't this an invasion of my privacy, seeing as how these records show every outgoing and incoming call?

I have also been threatened by this person, saying that "the police said they are processing all the info and you'll get a letter in the mail." I know this person could obviously be lying, however they made several comments on incoming calls that I have received; calls they would not have known about unless they somehow had my cell phone records. Is there anything I can do here? Any way, other than hiring a lawyer before I find out if I am being formally charged with anything, to determine whether this is true?

[JudyKayTee]

I could see the Police obtaining info on the calls; I cannot see the Police handing it over to anyone. They would hand it over to the DA as part of a criminal complaint but not to your accuser.

Somebody is blowing smoke - however, if they know additional information I would be concerned that they either have a source or guess really, really well!

[ScottGem]

Its possible that, when interviewing with the police or DA, they got a glimpse of the records. But I agree, that I can't see the police handing the records to them.

On the other hand, He could be planning a civil suit. In that case, his attorney may have subpeoned the records, but I think they would have had to file suit first.

[Fr_Chuck]

The first fact ?

Are you doing the prank calling, if so then there is evidence and they found out it was you by some means.

Most likely they merely want you to stop the calls, or they are trying to get even for the calls by threatening you.

a. if you did not make the calls there is nothing to worry about, since the phone records won't prove anything, right?

b. if youi are guilty, then if they know you did it, all the have to do is call the police since they could get the records if they wish.

[hey its me]

No I am not doing the calling. I myself just changed my phone number as I was getting strange calls at odd hours, therefore I can't see the records showing anything at all. Now I'm guessing this person has something to do with the calls I was receiving.

My main concern is that this person most definitely has, or at least saw my phone records due to their comments. I agree that it would not make sense for the police to hand my personal records over, therefore, they must have some source at the phone co. or they somehow got access to my accounts online. Which is illegal, and a violation of my privacy. But I don't know how to go about finding out what exactly happened?

[ScottGem]

Report it to the police or prosecutor. Go in and tell them that this person approached you and displayed specific knowledge of phone records that he should not have had. Let them pursue it.

[hey its me]

I would do this, however, this person lives in a different state than I do. I could try calling, I suppose, but I don't know if they would give me any information or even take it seriously, considering the distance.

[BMI]

Regardless of if you think they may not give you any information, I would think giving them a call would not be too much trouble seeing as how you want to get to the bottom of this.

[ScottGem]

You report it to your local police or prosecutor. You do not need to mention, unless asked, why this person may have gotten your records. All you report is that you have received information from this person that they could only know if they obtained your records.

Or report it to your carrier.

[hey its me]

I tried calling the NYPD, since the "accuser" who has my phone records lives there and I got the run around, they couldn't give me any information, blah blah. I even asked if they could tell me if there was any sort of complaint against me, and was told no and that if there was I would have received a summons.

I called my provider's (T-Mobile) customer care line who then referred me to their legal department. I spoke to a women in the subpoena department who was very nice but said that lawfully, they could not tell me if my records were released due to any subpoena, which I understand completely.

So basically my sole option is to go to the local police department, whom I don't think are doing to do very much. I'm going to think about it overnight and possibly go by the station tomorrow.

Thanks for all your assistance and advice, I appreciate it. :)

[AlpineAnnie]

As soon as you said that your cell provider is T-Mobile I had to answer. On my t-mobile.com all you need to access the phone records is the phone number and social security number. Since the other person already has your phone number, could they have your social as well? We have t-mobile and can check incoming and outgoing calls on all of our phones almost immediately.

[ScottGem]

Calling NYPD was a waste of time. Calling T-Mobile's legal department was a good move and I disagree with their answer. They might not be able to tell you who issued the subpeona, but you have a right to know if your records were subpeonaed. I would go back to them and go higher. You may have to get your own attorney to subpeona their records in this matter. But a subpeona would mean a law suit and may be a matter of public record. It might take a bit of digging but you may find what you need by searching NYC court records online.

I would start with a local DA or prosecutor's office rather than the police.

[hey its me]

Annie- I very much doubt they would have my SS#, however, now that I think of it, it's quite possible that they obtained the password to my account online.

I am going to try and call T-Mobile's legal department once more tomorrow, during their business hours. I believe the lady at customer care did mention (she was trying to help me to calm down, I think she could tell that I'm seriously freaked out) that even I myself would need a subpoena for my own records. I'm very reluctant to involve a lawyer, until I am at least formally charged with something, since I truly can't afford one and I may be freaking out over nothing.

I did find a nice site for NYC Court Records, searched my name and nothing came up as of yet. I found this out last week, so I'm assuming that if there were some sort of criminal charges filed against me, they would have been there by now.

I'm going to give it a few days, see what happens, if I hear from this person again or get a letter or something. Then I will take it from there.

Honestly, I've posted this question on dozens of forums because I was stressing, but everyone here has been the most helpful. :)

[ScottGem]

Keep us posted