If you want change your number, then contact your local police station and ask them for a reference number and pass that on to your phone company. In some cases, there may be a charge for this service from the network.
This being said, the police will only be able to pass on a reference if the matter is reported to them; no crime reference number can be provided if no crime is reported. Some service providers will be able to change your phone number without the need for police involvement.
The first step to take is to report the matter to your telephone company, whether it is a landline or mobile network. If they feel it is appropriate they will put a trace on your line and instruct you to keep a diary of the calls, the time of the calls and also the type, for example, silent or heavy breathing etc. This is in order to gather evidence; the police need evidence of the offending number and details of calls in order to pursue a prosecution.
The telephone company will then contact you again when they feel they have enough evidence. Notify the police of the anonymous calls and they should initiate an investigation.
The police will then aim to identify the offender and where possible, prosecute. This process can take some time and it is not unusual for a period of several weeks to pass before the police will re-contact you about your complaint.
The process is the same if you think you know who the offender is; the police will still require the evidence to prosecute.
If the calls/text messages are of a threatening nature and there is a serious threat to your safety, then contact the police, who will deal with the matter as a higher priority.
One of the first things to consider is for your telephone number to be ex-directory. This will stop a great deal, if not all, of the telemarketing calls.
Another way of stopping the calls is to register with the Telephone Preference Service (TPS); this is a central register that holds the details of all the people who no longer wish to be bothered with telemarketing calls. Once registered with this service the companies are not allowed to call you. There is also a Corporate Telephone Preference Service.
Telephone number for TPS 0845 0700707.
Phone hacking is where people gain unauthorised access to information that is held on a mobile telephone, in most cases these are voicemail messages.
Mobile phone companies set up a default voice mail service for all mobile telephones. This service can be accessed from other mobiles telephones (or traditional landline telephones) by dialling your mobile telephone number. Once the voicemail service message begins, all a hacker has do is dial * and enter a PIN number, which is a default PIN number unless it has been changed.
For details on how to amend this PIN number, see your service provider in the related links.
If you suspect that your telephone or mobile telephone has been subjected to hacking then you can report it to Police Scotland by dialling 101.
When you contact the police they will need:
Your details will be forwarded to the investigation team dealing with phone hacking enquiries.
