Trace a Cell Number

Stalking and Reverse Lookup
Being stalked may be something that most of us never even think about but occurs more than we think. There are varying degrees of what we may consider stalking but most states have laws spelling out what is and is not stalking. The truth is stalking is much more common than most believe.

An estimated 3.4 million Americans identified themselves as victims of stalking during a one-year span, according to federal crime experts who on Tuesday released the largest-ever survey of the aggravating and often terrifying phenomenon. DAVID CRARY, AP

The survey itself was designed to dig deeper into the different forms of stalking which had not been specifically defined in earlier studies. What researchers found was the most common type of stalking, which they defined as a course of conduct directed at a specific person on at least two separate occasions which would cause fear, was the act of unwanted phone calls. The reported incidence of phone stalking was 66% of those surveyed while the next closest complaint was email stalking coming in at 31% of those surveyed.

Now there is always a margin of error but the study showed that unwanted phone calls were happening at a rate double than that of other forms of stalking. Perhaps this is due to the relative anonimity afforded to the caller. Most people who would resort to such an act are probably not calling for landline phone which would show up on a caller ID, or would at least engage a *67 technique to mask their identity.

The best way to make someone stop phone stalking you is to get their number, call them and tell them to stop. Once their identity is known it is usually enough to get a prankster to stop. Remember, the definition of stalking is two unwanted incidents so a prankster, though probably not meaning harm, falls into the category.

People looking to instill real fear into you might be a little more difficult to avoid. Their intention is to bother you for some reason and they are probably a little more devious than your average prankster. If you are able to determine their phone number, you may wish to call the police and file a report. If their phone number is unlisted you may wish to use a call trace service or a reverse look up. These services will give you public information for free and you might be able to identify the number.

If the caller is using a cell phone to make the annoying or frightening calls, you will need to use a pay search by phone number service because cell phone numbers are not listed in 411 directory. The information is considered private so it is not published but you are legally allowed to access the numbers through data bases. They just happen to charge a small fee. You will be able to run a reverse lookup and quickly get the number of any cell phone owner and report them to the authorities.

If you even suspect you are being stalked maliciously you should follow your instincts and report it to the police. Even if it turns out to be nothing, you are better safe than sorry. Even reporting minor incidents is wise because if they escalate, the police will have record of other unwanted contact earlier on and will have more people to stop the person legally.

The study was described as a groundbreaking effort to analyze the scope and varying forms of stalking, which had not been featured in previous versions of the National Crime Victimization Survey.
The researchers defined stalking as a course of conduct, directed at a specific person on at least two separate occasions, that would cause a reasonable person to feel fear. The most commonly reported types of stalking were unwanted phone calls (66 percent), unsolicited letters or e-mail (31 percent), or having rumors spread about the victim (36 percent).
More than one-third of the victims reported being followed or spied upon; some said they were tracked by electronic monitoring, listening devices or video cameras.
Nearly 75 percent of victims knew their stalker in some capacity — most commonly a former spouse or ex-boyfriend/girlfriend.
Women were far more likely than men to be stalking victims, and people who were divorced or separated were more vulnerable than other marital categories. People aged 18-24 were more likely to be stalked than older people.
Victims reported suffering a range of emotions because of the stalking. Their most common fears included not knowing what would happen next (46 percent) and fearing the stalking would continue indefinitely (29 percent). Nine percent of the victims said their worst fear was death.
According to the report, about 130,000 victims said they had been fired or asked to leave their job because of problems arising from the stalking. About one in eight of all employed victims lost time from work, either for fear for their safety or to pursue activities such as seeking a restraining order or testifying in court.
Mary Lou Leary, a former federal prosecutor who is executive director of the National Center for Victims of Crime, said she was struck by the persistence of some of the stalking behavior depicted in the report.
“When you consider the impact that stalking has on a victim’s life, five weeks is forever — five years is incredible,” she said. “They often have to give up their current life, leave their jobs, their homes, establish a whole new identity.”
Leary credited law enforcement authorities with taking stalking serious, but she said more needs to be done to strengthen anti-stalking laws and to expand the resources to combat it.
The federal government and all 50 states have enacted laws making stalking a crime, but the laws and definitions of stalking vary widely.
The survey’s authors tracked a range of stalking behaviors, including waiting for the victim at a certain location, sending unwanted messages or leaving an unwanted present.
“While individually these acts may not be criminal, collectively and repetitively these behaviors may cause a victim to fear for his or her safety or the safety of a family member,” the report said.
About 40 percent of the victims reported the stalking to the police, and about one-fifth filed charges.
The largest previous study of stalking, conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2005, estimated that 7 million women and 2 million men in the U.S. had been stalked at some time during their life. It found that violence was committed against the stalking victims in at least 25 percent of the cases.

For More information on The Justice Department’s Bureau of Justice Statistics please read the report on stalking

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How to Block Phone Calls

Learning to block incoming phone calls to your home phone or even cell phone can give you piece of mind when trying to avoid telemarketers, bill collectors, pranksters or even stalkers. There are several methods to block phone calls and some work better than others.

Blocking Landline Telephone Calls:

The first thing to do is utilize caller ID. For those who don’t know, caller ID is a device that either attaches to your phone or is integrated into your phone that identifies incoming phone calls. Your caller ID mechanism can alert you to the incoming phone number, the number and name of the caller and unfortunately sometimes no information at all. This will depend on the type of phone and amount of privacy the inbound caller is using.

The idea is to gather as much information about the caller and decide whether or not to pick up the phone. If you are able to use caller ID to determine you are receiving calls from telemarketers, it is a good idea to add you number to the National Do Not Call List.

There is only one National Do Not Call List and you are welcome to add your landline phone or cell phone to the data base. This is the single best way to rid yourself of telemarketers. You may visit The National Do Not Call List or call (888) 382-1222 and listen to the instructions. It is important to note that it takes 31 days after a number is added to the list before telemarketers must officially cease making calls.

Another method of blocking inbound calls is the use of an inbound call blocking device. These are screening tools that allow you to hand out codes to those you would like to be able to get through your blocking defenses and the callers simply dial in the code and the call is placed. These tools are readily available online but seem to be more trouble than they are worth because your contacts are likely to misplace or forget codes.

Local telephone companies all have some sort of pay service allowing customers to block certain incoming calls and they all come along with pros and cons. They do work but can turn out to be expensive and hard to manage for someone who is just trying avoid sales calls but may have use for incoming calls from unknown numbers. Most telemarketers who make their living by getting a target on the phone will have methods for bypassing caller ID and call blocking services. However, if you do answer a call from a telemarketer you can always ask them to remove your number from their list and they will probably not bother you again. It is usually other more malicious callers which end up becoming  the type of nuisance causing someone to really try and block a phone number.

Blocking Calls to a Cell Phone

With cell phones we have a trusty little call log that allows us to see the list of callers who call into our phones. However, most of the sales calls, pranksters, bill collectors and stalkers will call from unlisted numbers and their numbers will not appear to us so easily.

The first thing you need to do if you are getting harassed is save any voicemail or text message that may be sent. These can be used as evidence in a police report if you are indeed being criminally harassed.

Much like with a lindline call, if you do answer a cell call from a telemarketer, remind them they are calling a cell phone and they cannot do this without consent from you or an actual request from you to their company asking for a sales call. They should immediately remove your number.

Cell phones do happen to work differently from other phones and there are currently no good methods for actually blocking calls. The best thing you can do is run a reverse look up or a search by phone number to trace a call. Identifying the owner of a cell phone number and calling them directly or in some cases turning their identity over to the authorities is the best way to stop threatening phone calls.

But, free reverse look up services only yield basic information because cell phone directories do not exist and cell phone numbers are not published in the white pages. The information on cell phone owners is readily available but a small fee is required to access the databases containing that information.

If you are being harassed or threatened and cannot block a phone number because it is coming from a cell phone, a reverse look up is the best way to trace a cell number and rid yourself of that pesky caller.

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