Families say they're being harassed by cell phone stalkers

The messages for the three families, left at all hours, threaten death. "They tell us that they see us," says one victim. "They tell us that they know everything we’re doing." A hoax, perhaps? (Tacoma News Tribune | If you get a registration prompt)

Comments

[elchampino]

Not to be flippant, but can they get a new cell phone?

[Sean, Torrington CT]

Terrorists!

[The Asshole Guy]

Why not just get rid of the cell phone's and change your home number to an unlisted one that cannot be given out to anyone.

If you remove the battery from the cell phone there is no way you can power it. Even if someone could take remote control over the cell if there is no power there is not shit you can do.

They could also setup video cameras around their home, get a guard dog or setup an alarm system where they could protect their home and get a permit to CCW if there state allows it.

[Brooke]

They already have tried new cellphones. The article said the calls and messages continued.

That's just creepy. It's like a bad horror movie. Especially the lime part. Gave me chills.

[Soo]

Anyone who is technologically gifted could hijack a cellphone, eh? Well, that's me out.

On that note, isn't all this media attention similar to "feeding the trolls"?

[T]

I think the media is indeed feeding the trolls Soo...having said that, a thousand bucks might make many a teen think about keeping a friend's secret...especially if the secret is that they've been harassing someone...especially if the snitch, er, informant can remain anonymous...

what a grammatical trainwreck my post is...sorry!

[natallica]

Not that this even begins to compare in terms of creepiness, but for a while I was getting offensive and very juvenile prank phone calls/messages. It got so that I would hardly answer my phone if it was from a restricted number. Once, I was with a guy and a restricted call came in, so I had him answer in a very aggressive way. However, it was a potential employer. So that didn't work out so well.

One night they called and in the midst of all their stupid rambling I heard someone mention some details about a job I'd once had. That really creeped me out - these little sh*ts knew me! Then it dawned on me, one time while working a gig I had lent my cell phone out to a kid saying he needed to call his mom. You can guess what happened from there....so from now on if I lend my phone out I do the dialing and always hit *67 beforehand...

[lowercase becky]

Does the Twilight Zone theme enter YOUR mind?
C R E E P Y !

How about the Outer Limits? Lights Out? A phrase that comes to mind is "I know where you live, and I know what you did."
W E I R D!

Can any of you think of any more scary tv shows or movies to add?

E E R I E !

[Soo]

What does *67 do?

[Brooke]

Soo, I think *67 blocks your number from showing up on someone else's caller ID.

This just reminds me of "Scream" or some other cheesy 90's horror flick. Tales From the Crypt, maybe?

[Detritus]

American Idol.

[Satan's Favorite Harlot]

That is totally cause stalking or gangstalking. Look it up.

[David]

I believe the girl that she is not behind this. I read the story and I heard:

"20,000 for parts for my robot. My GIRL robot. This is going to be the best prom ever. snort snort hyuck."

I'm guessing that when they do catch the morons behind this, it'll be either the young lady isn't very popular and a bunch of people thought it would be cool to do this to her, or she had made an enemy with a couple of techie friends.

I can see a couple of easy ways to narrow down the suspects, and a search of their property should clear up whatever cameras these idiots have planted.

[sometimesilie]

It wouldn't be a very good idea to make threatening phone calls to my family and then show up at my house. I wonder how threatening these stalkers would sound with a shotgun pointed in their face?

[Cipher]

I honestly don't know what to make of all this. I do know, though, that if someone actually banged on the walls of my house that I'd be spending the next few nights on my roof with a rifle. And the odds of it happening a third time be about 0%.

[DCer]

This sort of thing happened to me in junior high. We had an unlisted number, but I gave it to my good friends. My guess is that one of them gave it to one of my junior high enemies for whatever reason and the calls came from many people, several of whom I couldn't recognize, we got pizzas and taxis sent to our house. And then they stopped.

15 years later some kids crank called me several times a day and also used personal info about my apartment, car, etc, but there were kids playing on the sidewalk all the time on that block- it was obvious who was doing it. I can't stand it, but I don't know there's a reasonable way to stop it since all kids are irrational.

[Phranqlin]

Detective work is probably the best way to crack this case. The people who are doing this probably know the girls. A sweep of the property by a professional security firm would be helpful, too. The stalkers could be hijacking the wireless network of the family or one of their neighbors to run remote webcams and the like.

But I'm also wondering whether these asshats would keep up the stalking if they were greeted by a shotgun blast the next time they banged on the window at 2AM.

[pnwgal]

I feel badly for these people. It has to be horrible to be constantly waiting for harassment.

I agree with Phranqlin. Doing some indepth digging of their own might get them some answers. Of course, I do like the point made by him and several other posters who suggested a shotgun to the face if they ever figure out who's been doing this.

[troschne]

The article mentions that they got new phones. Why do they not get new numbers, as well, and see if that doesn't solve the problem?

[Beyotch Knowles]

I saw this family on the Today show today. Not only did they get new cell phones, but they changed their numbers. Even when the cell phones are OFF, these people can record their conversations and send it back to them as voicemails. It was beyond creepy! I don't think it's an elaborate hoax as the FBI has now gotten involved. These hackers even called the daughter's boyfriend (how did they get his number?) and claimed that they had raped his girlfriend. The people can somehow also spy on the people through the cell phone's camera phone. Seriously, check out the Today Show site to see if you can get the piece online. This scared the SHIT out of me. I hope they catch these creeps soon!

[troschne]

Beyotch, I saw that, too. The article didn't mention that, but the Today piece did. I was going to post that, but hadn't had a chance until just now, but saw that you had. Thanks for sharing.

[martinfixx]

didn't something happen like this a few years ago but through the family tv sets and they found out it was their son