To call the police?

[gardentrent]

Over the past month I have received calls from a withheld number, breathing heavily down the phone and saying sexually explicit things to me.

They're whispering when they talk and I don't recognise the voice or accent at all. A lot of the time they are just silent and/or breathing heavily.

Not sure if it's relevant but last year my house was broken into and I was assaulted by an unidentified male. That was about 1.5 years ago now.

I'm really freaked out but not sure that a prank call warrants a call to the police!

They don't call for a while and then will call several times in a row. One of those times being at about 2am.

Yes. Call 101. Have you listed all the dates and times theses calls have been received because they will want to know this.

Years ago, when I was still using a landline, I had this. Then I tried a proper football whistle, and blew it really loudly down the phone. It worked, they never called back.
Or you could just not answer calls with withheld numbers?

That sexual assault must have been absolutely terrifying.

Realistically, though, if that person didn't know you (eg it was a random attack) then how could he know your number?

Do you have a job where your number is listed anywhere?

Do you think the attacker might be someone you knew? Did the police find anything?

Yes, we (and the police) thought it seemed personal.

My number isn't listen anywhere publicly

The phone company should give you a new number and log this as a blocked number.

Yes definitely call the police x

Can’t you block calls on landline- certain companies like Bt do this. And they can block all withheld numbers.
I do this.
literally landline not rung in 2 months now 🤣🤣🤣🤣going to get rid of it when my BT Contract renews.

Do you have a do not disturb on your phone, the only people who can contact me are those I add to a list that overrides, everything else is silenced.

Yes please make your network and police. I've had this in the past, police traced it to a random bloke that just rang numbers in the hope of getting a woman.

Don't change your number. This doesn't stop the behaviour, it moves to the next person they chose to torment.

I’ve done the whistle too. It’s really satisfying.

Yes, call the police. A "prank call" is illegal under the Malicious Communications Act, it's not just something you have to put up with.

Sorry. Completely should have mentioned he knows my first name.

Definitely call the police and keep a log of each call (if you haven’t already).

I think given the history and the fact they know your name it completely warrants a police phone call.

Yes call police. He may be targetting you, you may be one of several. It's a sexual offence. The police need to be able to investigate.

Definitely report to the police, explain your concern it may be the attacker and ask the police if anything can be done to identify who is called. Eg does the phone company have confidential logs of the calls that the police maybe are allowed to access?

Change your phone number.

Sorry this happened and is happening to you.

Hey that sounds awful. Dont forget you can record these calls on your phone. Report to police then block number. Do you have any ex partners who were abusive? Maybe could give you a lead. So sorry this happening to you.

Has he mentioned any other details OP to suggest he may know your movements? If so, these people may be able to advise

www.paladinservice.co.uk/

Arrgh he knows your first name? That's terrifying.

Could you change your number?

Are you single? Have you been on a date with anyone lately? What about people from work? Do you recognise anything about his voice?

This looks interesting.

It's an American service - I'm not sure whether it would work over here.

This is the same company: www.trapcall.com/blog/no-caller-id/

Call the police

change your number

ask for it to be made so the caller must identify themselves

I had this years ago and it would often be at 1am and then every ten minutes until 5 am or every thirty minutes

i lived in the middle of nowhere and despite cctv and massive dogs it was my only communication so I didn’t want to turn my phone off

I changed my number with the mobile phone company and it stopped the scary thing was I had only given it to family, my partner at the time and about 10 very very trusted friends - it was one of them

I suspect my now ex partner

Ring the police. Today.now.

This sounds terrifying, especially after the previous assault and I hate to say it but I think it's too much of a co-incidence for them not to be linked.

I would keep a detailed log of times, dates, what was said and log it with the police.

Do you have CCTV on your house? If not, and you could afford it, I would also suggest that.