A friend of mine had been receiving harassing phone calls demanding his personal information two or three times a day for the past few weeks. He suggested that I write a blog about combating harassing phone calls. Here are a few tips to help you deal with these calls effectively.
First, identify the nature of the calls. Are they traceable to a particular source? Perhaps an individual or a call centre?
Once you have identified who has been calling you, you can take actions against them. You may report the incidents to the police or Crime Stopper. While it’s unlikely that your single incident report will lead to a major investigation, if a great number of individuals complain against the same callers, perhaps something will be done by the authorities.
Depending on you perceive the calls as threatening, you may want to consult a lawyer. If you decide to retain one, you should stop dealing with the caller immediately and refer the caller to your lawyer.
In my experience, once you’ve referred the calls to your lawyer, they stop calling you promptly. If the callers have legitimate reasons for calling you, your lawyer will be able to deal with it more effectively.
Potential remedies against harassing phone calls include criminal prosecution and civil action. Hiring a lawyer will assist you in deciding whether to pursue the matter further.
Because many seemingly innocent questions are in fact used as security features for online or telephone transactions, unless there’s a legitimate reason for it, you should never give out your personal information. This information may include: your full name, address, email address, date of birth, your mother’s maiden name, social insurance number, credit card numbers, and so on.
Do not give in to the caller’s pressing demands. They can’t hurt you over the phone.
