Ask HN: Is there any way to trace a private call?

[crix]

My fiance has received some harassing private calls on her cell and I was wondering if there was anyway to trace the calls. From what I've read, the phone company may not be much help and I don't want to have to resort to the police.

I've been reading HN for a while and I'm not really sure where else to turn for help, but I figure some on here may be able to point me in the right direction. Sorry if this isn't the place for this (please delete if so).

[jderick]

You probably do need to get the police involved to some degree. My nephew had a similar problem a while back and the phone company would only release the phone number to the police.

Here is a pretty good link:

http://www.privacyrights.org/fs/fs2a-cellcalls.htm

[crix → jderick]

Thanks for the link. If things persist we'll have to do something more "official". After doing some more searching on my own, it seems apparently there is no tech-based solution to this.

[ryanmahoski → crix]

http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=2008041719053...

According to one entry in that thread it is possible to expose anonymous callerIDs by forwarding to an 800# and then gathering the number from there.

[Shamiq → jderick]

I've had a similar problem (ethnic epithets -- it was disgusting).

The phone company (AT&T) required a subpoena to release the name/number.

[nickb]

Mitnick showed a way but it's pretty complex: http://voipsa.org/blog/2008/07/23/asterisk-hack-to-show-bloc...

[vaksel]

why don't you want to involve the cops? the whole harassing thing really isn't that big of a deal, the dude will just get a stern talking to, and at least the cops will have the complaint on file in case you need to get a restraining order etc.

[sh1mmer]

Talking to the police early is important for a number of reasons, one of the primary ones being you can say that you did if the worst happens and it becomes a full blown stalking.

[run4yourlives]

Why don't you just block the number?

[crix → run4yourlives]

The number just appears as "private." She didn't answer, but the guy left a pretty insulting voice mail. It didn't sound like some kid doing a prank call either. It could just be someone with a wrong number, but I wanted to know just for peace of mind.

[run4yourlives → crix]

You can still block the number I believe. The phone company can do it without you needing to know the number. Especially if she phones.

[andr]

Quick, call CSI!