I’'m being tormented by slanderous text messages that are being sent to my mobile phone, the sender of these messages often appears anonymous but sometimes an incomplete telephone number appears. What can I do to discover who is harassing me ?

In cases where the number of the sender of these messages fails to appear, it is quite likely that they are being sent from a computer via the Internet. If there is an incomplete number at the end of the message that it is impossible to call back or that is not registered, then the sender has used a public phone from which it is possible to send text messages (e-mails can also be sent from such phones). If you see a five digit number without any prefix, then the person responsible for sending such messages has availed of a messaging service, which allows the sender to “hide” their number.

In such cases, we recommend the following:
Keep all the messages, photocopying them directly from the display
Report the matter to the Postal Police and await the outcome of their investigations
Change your mobile phone if possible, keeping your old phone active so as to monitor the messages that are sent.
Don’t give your new number to everyone immediately, but gradually to everyone that you know, friends and relatives, waiting for a “quarantine period” between one communication and another. In this way, with some luck you will manage to focus better on your own suspicions regarding who is really responsible.
Analyse the texts of the messages, the times that they are sent and their frequency, to draw up a profile of the anonymous harasser
If the messages are always sent from the same public telephone, it might be a good idea to have it put under surveillance.
If you have some serious suspicions regarding someone in particular, keep an eye on them and prepare a trap for them.
In such cases it is normally the harassed person who gives us the best idea of who to keep an eye on, however often during our investigations we have found that the harasser is the person you would least suspect.

Published on: 24 Feb 2005