After a long day at work or in the middle of the night, the last thing you want to
hear is the loud ring of the telephone and at the other end of the line - phone
harassment. It could be the sound of heavy breathing, the deep voice taunting
you with explicit language, or a scary stretch of silence. Some people may
experience the annoyance of a prank call at least one time in their life, but
there are those who are unfortunate enough to encounter ongoing phone
harassment that has the potential to get quite out of hand.

What is Phone Harassment?

Phone harassment often describes any type of unwanted phone contact
intended to cause a person to become upset, saddened, alarmed, or scared.
Many people who commit the act are unaware that it is a form of bullying, as
well as a complete invasion of privacy. In many cases, the caller knows the
victim, while others experience the torture of a random dialer.

Some people experience one unusual call by chance, where the worst cases
involve an everyday attack of abuse that often prompts one to change their
phone number. It doesn¡¯t matter if the phone harassment takes the form of a
one-time prank call or is a continuous rampage of disrespect, there is no
excuse for the act to take place and it is completely unacceptable by law.

The Impact

The range of emotions that a victim undergoes is never-ending, as they may
feel threatened, angry, furious, suspicious, paranoid, and/or offended. Most
often, a victim experiences an impact in their life that causes sleepless nights
and a feeling of inadequate security. Everyday patterns may change, as some
phone harassments victims feel like prisoners in their own home. The
lingering fear of the unknown generally surfaces, as a person hopes the
criminal, stalker, or lonely soul does not take their harassing to another level.

Who Does It Effect

Anyone can become a victim of phone harassment, which spans the attractive
co-worker in the office to the congressman running for reelection. Generally, a
harasser is acting like a coward because they manifest their apprehension for
face-to-face contact into hiding behind the safety of a telephone that is most
times, impossible to trace and hard to avoid. For example, a victim may stop
answering their phone and then begin receiving threatening messages on
their answering machine.

How to Deal With Phone Harassment

In the majority of phone harassment cases, the best thing to do is to not
response. The harasser takes pleasure in hearing your voice and many times,
hearing the frustration in your voice. The more upset and confrontational you
are, the more encouragement they receive to continue the act. Some victims
of continuous phone harassment may place the phone receiver down beside
the phone and walk away - taking away the fun. The harasser is then unable
to get any true joy from the act.

A good way to come closer to ending the harassment is to record each
incident, taking down times and as much information as you can. Next, you
may contact the phone company and have them trace the calls. Even if you
don't track down a home or cell phone number, you may find that the harasser
always calls you from a bar around the corner, which is an important piece of
information. Using answering machines and caller IDs to screen your calls is
also helpful.

You may also conduct a reverse phone lookup, which may offer information
on who is calling, from what number, the phone company connected to the
number, and the address of the owner (when applicable). Additional
techniques include contacting the police and simply changing your phone
number.