Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Chat

Join the discussion and chat with other Mumsnetters about everyday life, relationships and parenting.

Original poster

How do I prove text is fake?

135 replies

ChimpParadox · 12/09/2018 11:10

A girl is showing DDs friends a text that she supposedly sent. It’s a vile text and DD has most definitely not sent it. The friends are believing the girl as they’ve seen the text. DD hasn’t seen the text.
How does DD prove it is not from her?
How does she find out who it is from?
What can be done?

OP posts:
CoraPirbright · 25/09/2018 10:20

Good point Serbska.

Ifailed · 25/09/2018 10:32

There are on-line services that will send spoofed SMS messages, making them look like they come from an innocent party.

Original poster
ChimpParadox · 26/09/2018 05:23

@TinkleWinkle
I threatened to contact the police, as sending racist messages shouldn’t be tolerated and even though I was sure it wasn’t my daughter, someone had and we needed to get to the bottom of it. The girl soon admitted that it had been faked once police were mentioned
How did you do this? If I email school and parents that we are going to the police I don’t think the girl will walk into heads office and confess all. I highly suspect the parents know they are fake as they would have kicked up a serious fuss if they thought they were actually from DD. I wonder if the only way is to ask school to tell the girl face to face that we are taking it the police. She may confess in that situation. BUT I’ve no idea if school would do this.
IF the girl confessed then we can ask for an assembly CoraPirbright - my DD needs to be exonerated before she can move in. It’s eating away at her!
I’m feeling so powerless!! And my DD is seriously suffering.

OP posts:
RoisinD · 26/09/2018 05:45

You are not powerless. You have the option to go to the police and get advice. This has been suggested many times but you seem to be reluctant to do so. Apologies if I have misread your intentions.

finnmcool · 26/09/2018 06:11

I would step it up with the school again.
Your daughter is being victimised under their care, it doesn't matter when the dodgy text was sent.
Go back to the police and tell them your daughter is bullied because of malicious communications. Threats don't need to be made for a child to be unsafe.

finnmcool · 26/09/2018 06:22

Also, can the school report the malicious communication to the police?
They are aware of it and the damage it is causing, it can't just be the decision of the parents.

Tinklewinkle · 26/09/2018 09:49

Chimp l told school I had been to the police (I hadn’t) and they needed a copy of the text.

They spoke to the girl and informed her I had spoken to the police and they wanted to see the text. She blustered for a few days before finally admitting she’d sent it to herself.

I hadn’t actually spoken to the police at that stage, just thought calling her bluff was worth a punt.

School didn’t give a big assembly announcing my daughter’s innocence or anything though. It wasn’t the end to the treatment from her classmates, the girl admitted it to the Head but not to her friends. DD had to be really tough and firm every time someone said something to her until eventually the message got through

Original poster
ChimpParadox · 26/09/2018 12:04

@RoisinD my last post says I went to the police. The person I spoke to sounded young but she did speak with someone else and come back to me to say it’s not a crime. I clarified by asking ‘so someone can say utter lies about someone else and it’s not a crime?’ She said unless it’s a hate crime involving race, sexual orientation, trans etc or threatening then no it’s not a crime. It could be libel or slander which are civil offences and I should contact a solicitor. Not at all what I was expecting.
@tinklewinkle oh so sorry to hear that your DDs peers weren’t informed. That’s the problem here. My DD just wants her peers to be aware of the truth. It’s so frustrating. We have a meeting with school but not for a couple of weeks as I want DH there and he’s working away.
@finnmcool I thought they would have done when I suggested it. I thought they’d have got the school IT people to help investigate.

OP posts:
Tinklewinkle · 26/09/2018 12:29

Chimp the message did get through eventually. It’s just that getting the girl to admit it wasn’t the overnight cure DD expected it to be

Every time someone said anything to DD about it she’d answer back with “it’s not true, [girl] admitted to Mr X she’d sent it to herself, ask him if you don’t believe me”.

Her close knit group of mates believed her and stuck up for her at every opportunity. She did get there and got quite a few apologies from her classmates

Defrack · 26/09/2018 12:43

Could you go back to the police and try again? Maybe speak with someone in person?

Original poster
ChimpParadox · 29/09/2018 08:02

Spoke to school and they are iMessages!
It’s not her name at the top it’s her number.
No date just says ‘today’
The content according to school is very different to what my DD has been told and nowhere near as vile.
The girl and her parents want to move.
My DD still wants to prove her innocence.
So - now researching how to prove she didn’t send the iMessage.

OP posts:
Original poster
ChimpParadox · 29/09/2018 08:04

Sorry, should read...
The girl and her parents want to move on.

OP posts:
Original poster
ChimpParadox · 29/09/2018 08:10

Looking at my iMessages they give the date. The only time they say ‘today’ is when they were sent that day then they revert to yesterday or the actual date.
So, the girl must have screenshot the iMessage the day it was received. Do screenshots have a date and time stamp anywhere? Both have iPhones.

OP posts:
Crownandheelshigh · 29/09/2018 08:58

On my iPhone when going into photos they have a date and time at the top normally xx

Original poster
ChimpParadox · 29/09/2018 11:24

Yes, you’re right. I now need school to check the actual screenshot on the girls phone - I think they’ve been emailed it which will not show the date it was taken.

OP posts:
Original poster
ChimpParadox · 29/09/2018 11:25

I’m trying to work out how to prove she hasn’t sent iMessages to this girl but struggling how this can be done. Anyone know please?

OP posts:
Crownandheelshigh · 29/09/2018 11:37

@ChimpParadox maybe try an itemised phone bill which will show the girls number?

PouchofDouglas · 29/09/2018 11:38

Oh Christ don’t contact school.

PouchofDouglas · 29/09/2018 11:40

The school my kids are at have stopped dealing with this stuff. They simply haven’t time. It’s out of school.

Tbh I think your daughter sent it. You know that.

StoorieHoose · 29/09/2018 11:51

Either your daughter sent it, someone has faked the conversation using an app or the girl has photoshopped your daughters number into the original message

An itemised bill won’t have iMessages listed as they use data and is not a text message

6DinnerSid · 29/09/2018 12:20

It's not a crime there is no point ringing the police again - they're not going to have changed their mind on what the law classifies as a crime.

It happened outside of school on a girls personal phone. To think that the school would get their IT support involved to investigate a students personal phone is frankly ridiculous. To think the school would hold an assembly announcing your daughters innocence and declaring another child a bully is actually mind blowing.

It is one thing for your daughter, a child, to think these things, but you are an adult. Please stop giving her false hope and unrealistic expectations.

Original poster
ChimpParadox · 29/09/2018 13:13

PouchOfDouglas my DD didn’t send it

  1. my DD was the one who told school about it
  2. the girl has deleted original message and only has a screenshot
  3. the girl has bullied my DD all summer and previously
  4. the girl wants to ‘move on’ Speaks volumes to me and thank heavens the school believe my DD too. Just can’t do anything about it as no proof.
OP posts:
Original poster
ChimpParadox · 29/09/2018 13:19

6DinnerSid it’s not at all ridiculous to expect school to do something about when the girl is showing school friends the screenshots at school, during school time and on school premises.
This is a bullying tactic by the girl to ostracise my DDs peers. School are very aware it’s a bullying tactic but can’t prove it. They are however being incredibly supportive to DD. Just that my DD feels a huge sense of injustice and that the girl is getting away with it as my DD is unable to exonerate herself.

OP posts:
todayisnotthedayy · 29/09/2018 13:36

Fgs this is horrible! If your daughter were to do something to herself (I hope nothing like that ever happens) then the school and girl would be in deep shit. It's not unheard of for teenagers to make these horrible, drastic decisions when they feel everything is wrong. School should be taking this much further.

WhatsInAnotherNameChange · 29/09/2018 13:44

You have no way of proving the 'text' is a fake.

The only way to definitively prove it is to grab the bully's phone and electronically interrogate it.

The police are the only people who could do this and the fact the girl wants to 'move on' and 'forget' the incident suggests she realises what could happen if her phone is taken.