I got in a political argument with some clown on Facebook. He managed to retrieve my wife’s cell phone number and our home phone which is unlisted and technically just provided by our Internet company that we never use.
None our personal info is really available on Facebook and our profiles are pretty locked down, but he called my wife’s phone a few times last week which she has blocked and never answers. Comes up as anonymous on her id.
He tried our home phone 16 times which I ignored, everything stopped, he called again tonight. I decided to answer. He said he knows where I live my wife and daughters name, and our address. He never gave out that though and that he is coming to kill us. Said that on the line
I have called my local police department. But this is rural Nebraska they said they can’t do anything or have our phone companies run a trace.
Is there anything I can do to figure out who this guy is?
Home security.
Get a basic gun. Practice at a range. If you can afford it, invest in security cameras.
I guess you could involve a lawyer if the situation becomes untenable.
Don’t panic; theres a 99%+ chance you’ll be fine.
But don’t ignore the 1%. To all the “it’s just an internet troll” folks: see Jonathan Ross, where one such angry troll shot him dead, just because:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Joss
May he rest in peace :(
Jonathan Ross Godammit you made me think I missed a huge news story
Shotgun to be specific
The sound of someone racking a 12 gauge is enough to make most people stop dead in their tracks and evaluate their life choices.
They also don’t penetrate walls and kill your neighbors.
With basic ammo it won’t, but a shotgun is versatile, and I’ve seen custom ammo that is definitely a warcrime by pretty much any metric.
I was in a fight with some coked up racists in my youth (we were prolly gonna lose that one, lmao) and that precise sound legitimately stopped the fight. Don’t get the wrong idea, we dipped too, it wasn’t “for” us lol
Nah keep one in the chamber so you don’t have to worry about it and get another shell in the tube.
FF, here. yeah, don’t…don’t do this.
Get a gun and learn how to use it.
But as other commenters have said, if he was actually intending on killing you, it’d be real stupid to call you in advance to say so. Most likely just wants to scare you.
Dangerous logic to assume escalation isn’t likely. If this person gets frustrated enough or gets radicalized enough OP will be first on their list.
I didn’t say it categorically wouldn’t happen, just that if that was the person’s real intentions then they’ve been very stupid about it. If you’re going to commit a murder don’t create evidence pointing to you. Like the other commenter said, a gun and self defence skills will cover you in both cases.
Your characterization of a rational, well adjusted individual not broadcasting premeditated violence is logical. However, a rational person would not make threats toward an internet stranger by telephone. That disqualifies this individual from rational which is why I would consider them extremely dangerous. After seeing Jan 6 participants get pardoned and a 24/7 feed of “us vs. them” propaganda, rationality as a constraint is off the table. That alone should scare OP. Indeed, should scare us all.
That’s where the first part comes in.
Though he should have said “get at least two guns, you and your wife learn to use it, and carry one even at home for a while just in case.”
I’m a she. But yes, I think arming yourself is a good idea regardless of the likelihood you’ll need it.
My bad.
But yes I agree with her (you) lol.
ITT: “Probably just a harmless troll”
In any other time in my life I would have agreed. However, the amount of delusion that has infected a great number of our populace means you need to take this seriously. A few more weeks of paranoia and propaganda and this person might just decide it is their holy duty to act.
Others have said arming yourself and increasing home security. That gets you to 50/50 odds in an actual confrontation, imo. Better than nothing.
Also agree with others that the police will be useless until it is time to draw a chalk outline around someone. If you can afford it, it might be time to get a lawyer involved. Rule of law isn’t completely dead at the working level and properly applied pressure from the judiciary might prompt action by authorities. At least it might force some sort of discovery that could enable additional actions.
Good luck.
Get something on your phones to record conversations. Don’t delete your voicemail
As i don’t want to divulge too much, some information will be sporatic/somewhat improper.
My family dealt with a neighbor, which of whom I can only describe as a plurality of serial harassers. By that I mean we were not the first, nor the last family for this entire family to explicitly target and fixate on for at least months on end. This was before 2016 to add (they ended up right where you’d expect).
Not just a not ring camera. Seriously DM me and im more than willing to help on the technical side of setting up a Frigate local NVR. Shouldnt cost your more than $200. If you go the home assistant route, it makes it trivial to set up an alarm system with zigbee or simular devices.
Now i have to be careful, among other things the neighbor was having their kids steal our mail, we recorded evidence of such, but they seemingly had a friend in the PD. Im not saying to expect this or necessarily take my advice, but especially being a red area, the cops will not help you if it comes to it. They will be 15 minutes after a shooting is called in.
We had evideable damage and video of one of their kids trying to break in our garage.
They still put my parents enployement at the time in jeopardy.
You get the 2A side of that, but ideally you want to avoid that entirely.
We eventually put up proper cameras, and some of the derangement subsided, floodlights are of particular use.
You cannot let yourself live in paranoia. But similarly you cannot be caught with your pants down.
We were in a ranch, thus no upstairs. They would shine flashlights at our windows. Laser pointer to the eyes would stop them quick.
Your situation is a lot more - forward. But there are pieces of information i believe you could use to your benefit in a preparedness scenario.
Again, DM me if you need any technical help, I’ll be happy to
PS definitely be done with FB. Theres a lot more shit than this one clown to do with that place. Ive been trying to avert my SOs father from something similar as well, but FB is another tool of this admin ib many ways
If someone is stealing your mail, don’t involve the police. That is a task for the postal inspection service, and they don’t play. They are generally the only enforcement branch for postal issues, unless an agreement has been filed for local or other enforcement agencies.
Thank you, hopefully never will have to go for that wringer again, it was very odd seeing state cops be dismissive of clear video evidence to say the least
The police are useless
Buy a handgun (or a rifle if money’s no object), let me know a budget and I can talk you through what your best options are there if you’d like. I was going to say security system, but a more cost effective solution might be to get deadbolts on all exterior doors (easier the smaller your house is and even easier if you’re in an apartment that’ll let you)
I’m sorry that you and your family are going through this, this is a genuinely terrifying situation to be in and you’re not overreacting by going to the police or taking this guy seriously.
Considering your logistics, you should look into getting a firearm if you don’t have one already. It also doesn’t hurt to put in a police report like others suggested. One thing I haven’t seen suggested itt: if there are people in your family that are too young for school/daycare or SAHW you need to think about having a contingency plan for them in case you’re at work. This could be anything from an escape route if someone gets into the house to having neighbors show up at a phone call (or leaving family with them).
Who downvoted this?
Isn’t Frank Rizzo also one of the monikers used by “The Jerky Boys”? The prank calling group from the 90’s that used to make tapes?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Jerky_Boys
Yup…
Frank Rizzo – an extremely abrasive, foul-mouthed blue-collar Italian-American New Yorker with bizarre complaints and requests (voiced by Johnny Brennan). Frank curses repeatedly at a potential employer during an inquiry about a job, and accuses the Mickey Mouse character at Disney World of being sexually inappropriate with his children.
If possible: move your family members to different locations anonymously. Move to friends. Mount internal security system that is not dependent on the external internet.
Do not deliberately seek danger/confrontation.
Swear out a warrant if you have a name.
Next time he calls and says he’s going to kill your family, reply:
“mind if I yank one off while I watch?”
That should end the harassment.
Find out his number and start harassing him back.
it’s a pretty bad idea to have a political argument on Facebook, especially with your real name and photograph right next to what you’re saying
I think OP probably understands that now, this isn’t thst helpful considering the position they’re currently in
⬆️ This is what having nothing to add to a conversation and being a fucking prick look like
thank you Steven
If he were going to physically harm you or your family in any way, he wouldn’t be harassing you on the phone. He’s legit just trying to scare you.
The best approach here is to “grey rock” him, which in this case just means not answering. You said you don’t use the home phone so just disconnect whatever device. You said your wife has blocked him so that’s sorted. Close your fb account or don’t log in or whatever.
Call the police and make an actual report to get an actual report number. Here any kind of threat made over a “wire service” is a crime. They may not investigate but that’s not the point, in the infinitessimal chance the guy escalates, you want some history.
Refresh home security without going nuts. Maybe a
ringdoor camera, make sure window locks are installed.Then just go about your life, but maybe avoid throw down arguments on fb.
Edit: don’t buy a ring camera.
Please do not buy Ring cameras, Amazons vast surveillance network is a privacy nightmare and is also regularly accessed by ICE and other law enforcement.
Eufy cameras can be used with a home base and stay offline, recording to the SD card in the base. Or if you’re into it, there are many self hosting options that give you much more control and options.
This. This. A thousand times a thousand times, yes. Nobody should be blindly trusting their safety to Amazon, one of the worst abusers of trust and privacy.
(Plus they’re the most common hardware… Guess what’s getting targeted for mass exploits?)
Almost anything is better than giving Amazon access to your home.
The only thing worse than giving info to Amazon, is having no security for your home. I have a ring camera that was a gift from my previous employer when I moved states and I’m very glad to have it. It faces my street, where anybody can see anyways so privacy is not a concern. I’d never put ring cameras inside or in the rear of my house, and would rather not use ring but given what a life saver it has been since i bought my house several times, i will not be doin without until I can replace with a offline system. But being able to check in at work is nice, and any security is better than no security. Hell just bolting an old cctv camera to the side of your house without hooking it up is better than nothing.
Ring has partnered with Flock. The Flock network is regularly accessed by law enforcement with almost no oversight. OP is in rural Nebraska. There is a 99% chance the caller is either law enforcement or friends with law enforcement who will happily check a ring camera that anyone owns, hell, they’d probably monitor every ring camera on OP’s entire street for a month, for a 6 pack of Natty Lite.
That ring camera is still absolutely a privacy threat, if not to you, than to your neighbors. Ring is partnering with flock on mass surveillance with facial recognition. That camera belongs to ICE just as much as it belongs to you, if not more since they can have AI “watch” it 24x7.
Right and what are they gonna do with the information that I am or aren’t home? That I got oil delivered? That some random prick was banging on my door a few weeks ago? It’s on the front of my house covering my driveway and the street. Anybody can hop on Google maps and see what my camera sees right now lmfao. Like I said I’d never get one in my back yard or in my house, but I’d rather have big brothers eyes on my driveway than none! And my mom was born in Venezuela so let ice pull up they’ll see what the 2nd A is for.
You don’t get it. It’s not about just one camera. They have the whole network and can run facial recognition and licence plate readers (that go well beyond just reading plates) across all of it. They don’t just know that you left your house, they can track everywhere you go. Some courts have made that illegal for cops to do, so they just outsourced it.
Your camera is just a small piece, but it’s a piece you control. Nobody should be throwing that shit up to the cloud. It’s incredibly damaging to any kind of civil resistance movement. Stalin could only have dreamed of the kind of mass surveillance that Americans are just freely providing to our oligarchy. It’s fucking dumb.
This is a flawed argument. Your walking around with a phone in ur pocket, they don’t need your camera to track you. That and just about every intersection has a camera on it. The network to track you has so many more data points than my ring camera. They track every penny you spend, where you work, where you buy groceries, the porn you watch. Yea my camera is contributing to mass surveillance, but as long as you own a cell phone getting rid of your ring camera isn’t going to help you the way you might think. If you want to stop mass surveillance you need to boondock on public lands. Once you own anything and get connected to the internet, it’s game over!
Eufy doesn’t have a good track record for keeping things local or secure, despite claiming they are, btw. Source
That’s good to know, thanks
Fair. I have a frigate set up myself, I just said the first thing that came to mind.
One day i will replace Echos with something better (still waiting for the Home Assistant devices to catch up). Until then, what doorbell camera A) has a battery option (rewiring isn’t currently an option) and B) will trigger Echo chimes when rung (really really handy when on the back porch or basement), C) are end-to-end encrypted (Eufys are NOT) without the manufacturer able to access the stream.when they choose
Just having driveway alarms can be useful. Battery motion sensors trigger a chime on the base unit. Enough to give you an alert that something needs to be checked.
Hmm.
I’m sure you can find this information in selfosted or other more tech oriented communities. Usually the convenience comes at the cost of privacy. It’s up to you if you want to keep the microphones in your home to turn off the lights and set timers. I used to trust Apple more and had HomePods installed, but everything has been sold on and I bought egg timers for very cheap that work just as well. (Granted Siri was never very capable…)
If he were going to physically harm you or your family in any way, he wouldn’t be harassing you on the phone.
I think it’s dangerous to apply logic and reason to these people.
The report number is very important. Cops want to brush off stuff that involves protecting people in my experience, buy having evidence of all this is vital if he starts stalking or something like that. He’s unlikely to escalate directly to shooting, but he is at risk of escalation
Cops want to brush off stuff that involves protecting people
That’s not my experience here in Australia.
Like in domestic violence situations, even where no serious injuries have occurred, police are fairly pro-active in establishing restraining orders and so on.
The thing is, the police I’ve interacted with are very practical, have limited tools at hand, and tend to work on an if-this-then-that basis. If your situation doesn’t slot in to an established “this” situation then you’re not going to get a “that”.
If I’m really honest, while I’m sympathetic to OPs situation, I don’t really think anyone is in imminent danger. Yes a law has probably been broken but the copper OP spoke to doesn’t have the ability to get the ID of the caller, so there’s not really much of a process for them to follow. They can’t post a couple of cops outside OPs house for the next month just in case he gets into another FB argument.
I don’t say that to be dismissive of OP, just to demonstrate how it appears from their end.
If you don’t actually ask to submit a formal report and obtain a report number then it’s understandable they don’t want to go to the effort to do that either.
Also if he is threatening a minor then that escalates things legally.
