Crank Call

I got a crank call last night.  The first one I ever had and hopefully it'll be the last.

It was after 1am and from a withheld number - don't ask me why I answered.  I sort of figured it was one of my friends who was drunk dialling.

In the first call he said "I want to get deep inside your..." I don't know what the last word was because I hung up, but I'm sure I could guess.

It gets stupid when I tell you that he called back and I answered again, which wasn't one of my brightest achievements.  I don't remember what the first thing he said was but my reply was "Yeah, you called before.  Who is this?".

He then just said, in a super-creepy voice "Look outside your window.  Look outside your door."

I didn't, I coudn't.  My heart was pounding out of my chest and I think its the closest thing to real, honest to goodness, I'm going to die fear I've ever, ever felt.

Logically, no one was going to hurt me.  It was just some idiot who'd randomly dialled a number and it happened to be the number of someone dumb enough to answer.

Anyway, rather than hanging up I just put the phone down so he got the soundtrack of an episode of Ed, Edd & Eddy which I happened to be watching.  Eventually he hung up.  I'm a little surprised, as cartoons go its right up there as one of the best.

I switched my voicemail off, because for some reason I thought him having my name was extremely dangerous - again, probably not.  I then put the phone on silent so if he did keep calling back I wouldn't hear it.

He only called back a couple more times, but by then the adrenalin had me so wired that I couldn't sleep.  I ended up texting the only person I could think of that would be up at that time which was my ex, and he kindly replied to say that it was probably just someone being a jerk.  Then he managed to scare the crap out of me by calling me too.  We talked for a few minutes and while he was on the phone I peeked out the window.  Of course there was no one there.  I'm not sure why I felt brave enough to do it with him on the phone, because if there was someone out there a voice on the end of the phone could do jack do help me!

I ended up sitting awake until gone 4am watching QVC as I tried to chill out.  There was a beauty hour though, so it wasn't all bad.

The ex asked me if it could have been one of my friends messing about.  I hadn't thought about that, but if it was and I find out about it I'm fairly sure we won't be friends anymore and they may end up missing some teeth.

I'm totally fascinated by the fight/flight reaction I had though.  The call itself felt so invasive.  I was in my room when I answered the call so it seem to be really close, my bedroom is my safe haven.  I feel fine about it this morning, but I really was a wreck last night.  In the cold light of day it seems so silly, but last night it was anything but.

I won't be answering any more calls from withheld numbers, thats for sure.

Comments

[Travis Erwin]

Sorry for your crazy night. Here's hoping the jerk doesn't all back.

[David]

Having the culprit listen to an episode of Ed, Edd & Eddy while they plan to haunt you, is hilarious! And a great defense mechanism!

[Beth]

Travis - Thank you, I'm hoping so too!

David - I'm sad to say it wasn't any inspired action ony my part, its just what was on. It was only in hindsight that I realised how funny it was!

[lucy]

Scary, you did well though.
If you havent already let your call provider know and keep a diary of the time, what was said etc if it happens again for evidence.

[Ing]

When incidents like this get reported to the police there's not terribly much we can do about them, insofar as unless it's a 'serious' investigation BT will not release phone data. I'm led to believe though, however I may be wrong, that allthough it's a 'witheld' number, BT still log it on their systems. Although they might not be able to divulge the call originator, they may be able to block it still somehow. Worth a try maybe?

Sorry you had such a random twat ruin your peace.

[Beth]

Lucy - I've kept a note of the date and time, I'm not really sur they'll be able to do much other than that as it was a withheld number. Fingers crossed he just won't call back!

Ing - The call was on my mobile and working in the industry I have a pretty good idea of what they can/can't or will/won't do. You're spot on - unless its really serious, they don't give the info out. I'm going to ignore any calls from withheld numbers from now on, that way even if he does call back I won't be botherd by it.

[Monozygote]

I'd still report it to the police, and to the phone company. If the phone company don't want to do anything about it, you can report them to Ofcom. You're not obliged to have these calls coming in to your phone. Even if they say nothing can be done, it's still worth logging your objection.

As women, we're encouraged to let these things go, and we're told that it's no big deal, but as you've described, being on the receiving end of it actually IS a big deal. Why should you have to be terrorised like that in your own home? You shouldn't have to ignore calls on your phone. What about business calls coming from a switch-board, or calls from ex-directory friends?

You say "unless it's really serious", as if you think it isn't. But malicious, threatening, sex-related calls like that ARE serious. In addition to the effect on you, the people who do this kind of call don't tend to just decide to stop. They're more likely to move on to more escalated things, where a woman might really get hurt, or worse.

I doubt you'll hear from that person again, as by refusing to engage with him, you've shown that you're not scared, so he'll know he's not going to get his kicks with you. But the next person he tries may not respond as you did.

[Deb]

I have caller id so we always know who's calling. How yucky, though! The key is doing just what you did. Not show him you were unnerved. Good for you. I think you rock, Beth.

[KennethSF]

It might be nothing, but you should report it to the local authorities. If they see a pattern in the caller's behavior, it might give them ground to go after the jerk. He could actually hurt someone (he might just intend to make someone lose a few hours of sleep but he could end up terrifying someone of her mind).

[Beth]

Monozygote - Thats a very good point. Fortunately since then, I've not heard back from him again. I will report it if I do.

Deb - Thank you! I think I probably sounded more annoyed than scared...there was tone of "Really? You're really calling me now and talking about this crap?".

Kenneth - I think the biggest issue is that when numbers are witheld, as a normal citizen you can't get the details of the number calling. The police can do it, but will only investigate in extreme cases. This was a one off, thank goodness. If I hear from him again then I'll report it, but I doubt I will.