# Need help \[Caller ID, \*69\] (Ed. title) **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 19, 2006, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-caller-id-69-ed-title/349061 "2006-03-19T23:32:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![New\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/46a35a/32.png) [@New\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/New_Girl)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2006, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-caller-id-69-ed-title/349061/1 "2006-03-19T23:32:07Z")
Cecil, please give me answers. I don’t have caller ID, so when someone called last night at 1:00 A.M and woke up my mom, obviously she had to dial \*69 to find out who it was. Well, it turned out to be my ex, who had been harassing me earlier. However, when I talked to him today he denied my claim with much enthusiasm and even checked his phone records to affirm his innocence. I know, I know, he probably has something up his sleeve. But is there any way \*69 could be wrong? Is it possible for someone else to have the same cell phone number? ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2006, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-caller-id-69-ed-title/349061/2 "2006-03-19T23:39:25Z")
Welcome **New Girl** , I am not Cecil of course. It is not possible that someone has the same 10 digits Cell phone number of your Ex if he still has the number. You can call the Phone company or even the police if he is harassing you. The Phone company can verify there was no glitch with the \*69. I think you can call 611 to get this type of assistance. I haven’t had a need for it in over 10 years. Good Luck and welcome to the SDMB Jim ---
**Author:** ![Myglaren](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f1d935/32.png) [@Myglaren](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Myglaren)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2006, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-caller-id-69-ed-title/349061/3 "2006-03-19T23:39:52Z")
There is a chance his cellphone called you all on its own if your number is still stored there, mine used to call my cousin at random times. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2006, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-caller-id-69-ed-title/349061/4 "2006-03-20T00:05:33Z")
> [@Myglaren](#): > > There is a chance his cellphone called you all on its own if your number is still stored there, mine used to call my cousin at random times. True enough, especially if it’s on a one-touch memory dial. But, his outgoing call log would have showed it. Anyway, the next time it happens, instead of dialing \*69, use \*57 which is (usually) Call Trace. Check with your phone company just to be sure in case they use a different code, but in most areas, \*57 will initiate a trace report that the phone company can later provide to law enforcement (they won’t give it to you directly), to aid in filing harassment charges or obtaining a restraining order. If it continues, you may also wish to seek legal counsel for help in deciding the best course of action. Good luck! ---
**Author:** ![SandyHook](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dec6dc/32.png) [@SandyHook](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SandyHook)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2006, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-caller-id-69-ed-title/349061/5 "2006-03-20T00:11:03Z")
69 is virtually never wrong. Don’t know about that \* thingie though. ---
**Author:** ![New\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/46a35a/32.png) [@New\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/New_Girl)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2006, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-caller-id-69-ed-title/349061/6 "2006-03-20T00:50:08Z")
didnt mean it like that, glad you have a sense of humor though. the joke is appreciated. ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2006, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-caller-id-69-ed-title/349061/7 "2006-03-20T02:14:11Z")
Caller ID can be [spoofed](http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/sfl-316callerid,0,1090345.story?coll=ny-leadnationalnews-headlines), but seems like a lot of trouble go to through just to annoy some one. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2006, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-caller-id-69-ed-title/349061/8 "2006-03-20T03:13:02Z")
> [@New Girl](#): > > and even checked his phone records to affirm his innocence. What ‘phone records’ could he be checking to affirm this? You surely can’t get phone company billing records for yesterdays calls – those take about a month before you see them. If it’s a cell phone, I guess you could check the log on the phone itself. But logs like that can be modified. And did you actually see the log, or just listen to him tell you that he was checking it, and that it didn’t show such a call. Ex’s have been known to tell lies about such things. Those seem more likely to me than someone else has the exact same phone number, or that someone else is harrassing you, and going to the effort of spoofing \*69 to implicate your ex. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2006, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-caller-id-69-ed-title/349061/9 "2006-03-20T06:43:15Z")
> [@](#): > > What ‘phone records’ could he be checking to affirm this? Actually, several phone services provide up-to-the-day or even up-to-the-minute records of calls for cell phones or long distance service on-line. (I am not aware of any “instant” reporting for land line local calls, but I cannot say that they do not exist.) * * * **New Girl** , based on your mother’s \*69 action, she can report it to the phone company as a harrassing call. Then it is up to your ex to explain to the phone company how his number magically appeared on her caller ID. That might be enough to deter future episodes. I do agree with **Myglaren** that it might have been an accident of a wrong speed dial button being hit. My SIL “calls” our house every once in a while when she is unaware that her phone is banging around in her purse and I have “dialed” people, myself, when I bumped my hip-mounted phone into the back of a chair. (That does not explain why your ex was adamant that he had placed no call, but it might have been simple embarrassment that he had not locked his phone into “no dial” mode.)