Is this telephone harassment?

[Sivafae]

I get these calls from some company. The message is automated. It does not say who the message is for, or what they are calling for. It just says there is an important matter they wish to discuss. I get the call just about everyday, and sometimes up to 3 or 4 times a day. This has been going on for more than a year. I will not call because I do not know who they are looking for. If it said my name or the name of anyone living at the house, then perhaps they would get a call back. What if they have the wrong number?
Does anyone know where I can find the rules or parameters for this kind of thing? Is it reasonable to expect that they would give the name of the person that they are trying to get a response from?

[kittykatkoffeekup]

1. Get an inbound call blocker

It allows only those callers who enter a special numeric code onto their touchtone phone pad to ring through to your number. You must be certain to give the code to everyone you want to talk to, but you could miss important calls from unexpected sources, like emergency services.

You can find some examples here. http://www.privacycorps.com/products/

[pitohui]

2. yes i would report it to the phone company

when i was being harassed by telephone i just called the telephone company, they will give you instructions abt what to do to file a report

they will send a letter to the person paying for that number telling them they could be disconnected if they continue to phone your number, if it's a business or mistake that is all it will take to get you off their calling list

[Thtwudbeme]

3. I kept getting those too...for two different people that I have never

heard of....turned out they were debt collectors. I know because I called back and went OFF on them three times. It only took three times of me being a complete bitch from hell for them to lose my number.

[ET Awful]

4. Those calls are usually a bill collector of some sort, whether via a

mistaken number or for something you may owe.

It's a standard tactic of collection agencies, they have a computer dial, and if an answering machine picks up, it leaves an automated message such as "Please call Mr. XXXXX regarding an important business matter at 1-800-biteme." If you pick up, you're put on hold until the computer can connect you to a human being. This can sometimes take 2 or 3 minutes of silence while they try to connect you.

When you look at the caller ID for these, it usually says "Unknown" or just lists an 800 number with no company name. If it lists an 800 number on caller ID or their message, you can often times just punch that 800 number into Google and find out who the company is.