Zombie calls?

July 24, 2005 11:58 AM

Someone I know is getting multiple phone calls per day to their cell phone from an unlisted "Private Number" (so says the cell screen). The caller hangs up after about 10 seconds without saying anything. Nothing can be heard in the background, except possibly a rustling sound. Because of the nonresponse, it is unclear whether a human is making the call or if it is somehow automated.

These calls come in clusters of 4-6 calls spaced out at every minute or so. Even if the person does not answer the phone, the caller will 1) not leave a message, then 2) call back in a minute. The person has stopped answering any call from "Private Number," but the calls keep coming.

So far there have been 3 of these bursts of calls over the last 4 days. Two times were very early AM and the other time was in the evening.

A call to the cell service provider was unhelpful -- they can't tell who the private caller is and say they can't block the number. Their only offer is to change the phone number free of charge, since this could be considered harassment.

Any theories? And what to do?

posted by _sirmissalot_ to Grab Bag (19 answers total)

Does your friend have an alphabetically early name? Some types of phantom calls like this can result from the cell phone number being accidentally dialed from within a pocket or purse. And although that doesn't explain the lack of voice mail messages, I have friends that have experienced the phenomenon before. Typically all you overhear in the background is rustling or maybe faint and muffled conversation.
posted by ktrey at 12:36 PM on July 24, 2005

Does she only say "Hello" once? Some machines activate when you say "Hello...(pause)...hello?" and then transfer to a human operator, so that the operators won't have to deal with answering machines.
posted by null terminated at 12:50 PM on July 24, 2005

I get these on my home phone. PRIVATE CALLER on the caller id. At this point, I don't answer them. I read in the local newspaper years ago that telemarketers are often set up with auto-dialers that try more than one phone number at once. The telemarketer connects to the first line that has a human response. The auto-dialer doesn't automatically hang up on the other lines because the telemarketer might connect to an answering machine. This allows them to pick the second connection. Using this paradigm, the telemarketer can spend more time actually talking to a human. They don't care that you picked up your phone and no one answers.
posted by clearlynuts at 12:53 PM on July 24, 2005

Response by poster: Does your friend have an alphabetically early name?

Nope.

Some machines activate when you say Hello...(pause)...hello?" and then transfer to a human operator,

The person has said "Hello," "Stop calling this number," "Who is this," etc. and has also been silent . . . same result.

I read in the local newspaper years ago that telemarketers are often set up with auto-dialers that try more than one phone number at once.

That sounds like a very plausible theory.

I find it very odd that the cell phone number couldn't be blocked.

It's not a "cell phone number" -- it's an unlisted/blocked number to the system. That's why you can't block it.
posted by _sirmissalot_ at 1:05 PM on July 24, 2005

My brother was a veteran of the telemarketing trenches and says clearlynuts' theory is bang on.
posted by docgonzo at 1:29 PM on July 24, 2005

Has your friend added their number to the "do not call" registry?

Also, I know that on the last land line that I had, there was a feature that I could enable (for a small fee, of course) where any unidentified caller had to turn caller ID on (using a *XX prefix) before the call would be put through to me.

I'd guess that it is likely telemarketers (I used to work in a related field with auto-dialers), and it's possible that with that many calls coming through that your friends number could be a "test" number that someone at a company put in their system.
posted by freshgroundpepper at 1:38 PM on July 24, 2005

As to what to do, why not register the cell phone number on the Do Not Call list? The site says mobile phones can be registered on it, and I've stopped more than one organization from calling again when I pointed out that my number was on the list.
posted by Tuwa at 1:43 PM on July 24, 2005

I am willing to bet that somebody is trying to send your friend a fax...

I believe this same thing happened to me recently. Luckily, there was only one burst of calls... I recieved 5 calls in a row, all from an "Unknown Number" and all 3 minutes apart. It would ring 3 times if I didn't answer it would hang up and try again. If I answered it would instantly hang up.

If this is something that happens a lot and continues happening. Couple options, does the cell provider have *69 service (find the last number) or go to your cell provider and get a new number...
posted by kashmir772 at 2:15 PM on July 24, 2005

Fax was my first thought as well.
posted by mischief at 2:25 PM on July 24, 2005

Not a fax. A fax attempt would have a tone every few seconds.
posted by kindall at 2:33 PM on July 24, 2005

Can your friend block all anonymous callers?
posted by mosch at 4:09 PM on July 24, 2005

I thought telemarketing calls to cell numbers was illegal.
posted by five fresh fish at 4:19 PM on July 24, 2005

hopefully these are telemarketer situation and will stop. The accidental dialing of cell phone has happned to me a few times where my phone ended up redialing numbers a few times because i forgot to lock the keypad! My number is not private and on one occasion my friend was furious! I believe for that to happen the caller needs to have the number in his/her phonebook or dialed number list. I had my phone on my belt and if I bent down or something I would end up pressing the dial key!

However, once my home phone number got mixed up with somebody else's who was being chased by some collection agency and i had some days of nasty experience including scenario like yours. But soon they started leaving messages and i had to get law enforcement officials' help at that point. I seriously doubt if this is the case.
posted by flyby22 at 7:44 PM on July 24, 2005

I would contact the carrier. Is it a prank or harassing caller? Maybe. The carrier can track these, I believe even if they are blocked numbers. Telemarketers shouldn't be calling cell phones. However, you can buy the automated calling machines pretty cheaply and an inexperienced person, like an insurance agent looking to pick up a few easy clients, could easily screw it up and start calling a block of cell phone numbers. Regardless, I would still contact the carrier and complain of harassing calls to get their resources involved.
posted by caddis at 8:09 PM on July 24, 2005

if it was a fax it'd sound like a modem, not rustling.
posted by angry modem at 11:06 PM on July 24, 2005

er, what kindall said.
posted by angry modem at 11:07 PM on July 24, 2005

Sounds most likely it someone your friend knows, or someone that knew someone else with the same number in the past. Their phone is accidently dialing your friend under certain circumstances. This happens to me occasionally, usually its my partner. It can be quite funny, depending on what you can hear.
posted by Goofyy at 11:30 PM on July 24, 2005

Not a fax. A fax attempt would have a tone every few seconds.

Goddam! When we first got our new phone number a couple years back, we were getting 5-10 calls a day that was just "beeeeeeep...beeeeeeep...beeeeeeep..." for a good minute (when we didn't hang up first). Still get them every once in a while, maybe two or three in a row every few months.

Mystery of mysteries!
posted by cortex at 12:06 PM on July 25, 2005

It is telemarketers.

I've answered the call and got people trying to sell me crap. I no longer answer them.
posted by Steve_at_Linnwood at 12:54 PM on July 26, 2005