strange phone question

[paul253]

I keep getting phone calls from what comes up on my cell phone as "private call". I've gotten maybe 15 or 20 of them today. The guy on the other line sometimes hangs up, and sometimes starts talking in some language which sounds like it comes from either Asia or the middle east. I called the cell phone provider and they more or less said they cant do anything but change my number. Under my calls received folder some number comes up as +25290781180, and i actually got a hold of that guy once when I called that number. Does anyone have any idea what I can do, if anything, to get this freak to stop calling or why calling a number starting with a plus sign actually connects somewhere?

[Minigoon]

I am pretty sure the + sign in a phone # indicates international calling. Best I could find was that Somolia has a 252 country code, but not knowing the standard of their phone system, not sure how the rest of the #'s work out. As far as stopping it, I have no idea, but I wouldn't answer or call that # back.

[paul253]

last 2 phone calls have come with a 529 area code, which I looked up and definately isn't from the U.S. Do cell phone providers charge you some ungodly amount for received calls from other countries?

[TooLiveBrew]

not to undercut your original question of 'how can I stop this,' as it clearly is really important, but at this point, why not just change your cell #? At least you can stop it temporarily while still trying to figure out how to stop it permanently.

[paul253]

well this is the only number that ive had since i've gotten my phone and I don't want to have to inform everyone I know that I changed my number. I also work for the city, so I would have to go to about 5 or 6 different departments within the city and change my number with them too, which would be a bit of a hassle. If this persists for the rest of the week its definately something I'd have to consider.

[1992casey]

If a call shows up as 'private', it means is the caller is blocking his/her phone number from showing up on your caller ID. I'd bet that the '+25290781180' that you're seeing is some kind of code relating to that.

 

You can probably block all private calls. I do that on my landline. Callers hear a message that they need to allow their number to go through. That might pose a problem for some people, though. Their friends or family may prefer not to send along their caller ID information and might not be savvy enough to unblock it on a per-call basis.

 

Giving this person the benefit of the doubt, I guess I'd assume that he's dialing the wrong number and that there's a good chance he isn't figuring this out because he could be hitting redial. But I'd definitely call 611 and check with your cell company about this.

[mattsr0625]

if you have online billing or detailed paper billing you can look up the number and it will tell you where the call came from. for ex: when i call from milwaukee to my brothers house in pewaukee my bill tells me that call was to pewaukee and if it is from another country ask the wireless provider to block international call. hope it helps.

[dadofandrew]

I'd just pretend it was an old girlfriend and not answer.

 

Also, if it is some kind of telemarketer, I believe you can just say "Do not call me again" and they have to remove you from the list.

[sbrylski]

Track his phone location, get on a plane, take the phone from his hand, and throw it in the nearest body of water. All the while giving him an intense stare down.

[paul253]

Track his phone location, get on a plane, take the phone from his hand, and throw it in the nearest body of water. All the while giving him an intense stare down.

 

Thats such a funny suggestion that I might actually go do it.....seriously http://static.yuku.com//domainskins/bypass/img/smileys/roll.gif