[tali]

My daughter is getting threatening text messages. I have attempted to reverse look-up the originating number to no avail. Question: Why would the information on this number be unavailable. Since I know the provider, can they help me, or do I need to report the messages to the police? Any help/suggestions/direction is greatly appreciated.

[mydogquestion]

Some people have unlisted numbers on the cell number which is why you can not find the number. And yes you will have to get the police involved. The provider will not release any information with out the police. Call them right away and do not delete any of the texts.

[wildandblue]

Yes don't delete the texts. They have information attached to them that shows the server the texts were sent on, as well as the time they were sent which will identify the caller. It is illegal to send threatening messages, contact both your phone co. and the police. I suggest you either turn off that phone or simply push the decline button when you receive a text, then look at the title of the text in your inbox. If it is from an unfamiliar number (my friends put their number or email address in the title) just delete it without reading it.

[tali]

Went to County Police Dept. yesterday and basically they blew us off. They called the number and said it was disconected. We call and it is still working. Apparently they are calling the wrong number. Have told us that if they take a report it will be a misdemeanor and anyway, they will not follow up on it. Bet if it was their kid they'd be all over it. Thanks for the input.

[wildandblue]

Well you should not be calling the number back, how did you get it anyway since you said it was unlisted. If you are calling each other the police will look at that as mutual harassment instead of one sided and will be less willing to get involved. If you have reported it, any calls from that number will be traced by the phone company, who can and will disconnect their service if they are making harassing calls.

[tali]

The Deputy at the Sheriff's office tried, but continuously dialed the wrong number. We called one time to find out if the deputy was right. If he was, nothing lost. BUT he was not. Our call prompted a new text- "nice try". We know the number, but not the caller. It is the caller's ID that is unlisted. We have gone back to the Sheriff's dept and discovered that there IS a dept that deals with phone abuse. We are waiting to be contacted by them. Meanwhile we think that this person is using a cell phone to send messages to a computer and then the comp is "calling". Hence the conflicting info about being a cell/landline. There have been no further texts since late Monday night. We are waiting to see if the start again this weekend-church time? We have a folder of our discoveries to hand over the sheriff's office. Maybe save him some leg work. Meanwhile, our daughter is being careful and not going out alone.
I was not clear: the texting number shows up. But no matching name can be found. Reverse phone lookup gave us lat. And long. And we were able to pinpoint location (a church)-hence landline. But the info says also a cell serviced by Cingular. Very confusing info and I don't pretend to understand thoroughly. Hope this helps clear things up. Thanks for your input!

[wildandblue]

Well with my cell phone all you get is the number calling you on the display, unless you have that person listed in your phone's address book, in which case their name will come up on the screen.
Perhaps you could assign a made up name to this caller's number and list them in your address book, then assign a special ringtone or no ring at all for that group of caller. This way you can avoid contact.
You should notify the phone company and the police as you have done. Again don't contact the person yourself, other than to notify them that you don't want them to call again and will press charges if they do. Then keep track of any further calls but don't respond. If you simply erase the calls without listening to or reading them the caller thinks he is harassing you even though he really isn't bothering you at all. He will either get caught or go on to bothering someone else while you will be completely oblivious, other than maybe a 10 cent charge for receiving his texts which you can recover from him with interest later on, as well as your court costs.
By acting upset and calling them back you are responding to their attempt to aggravate you and giving them the attention they want. It is much easier to catch a stupid crook who has no idea you are aware of what he's up to, rather than telling him you know what he's doing in which case he will be more sneaky about it.

[Fr_Chuck]

So go back and talk to the police again, and again the next day if you have to. As to talk to a dect in their office, not a uniform officer. Write the number out clearly, for them, type out all of the text messages.

Next call your phone company and change your phone number.

The phone company may be able to provide the info but will not without a court order.

Also many phones can not be traced, pre-paid cell phones can not be traced to anyone