Dealing with Nuisance Calls

You can fill out a CALL INVESTIGATION FORM here.

Serious or Threatening calls

If you have received a call of a serious nature, such as a threatening, abusive, or obscene telephone call, you should contact your local Police Station for advice. Such calls could be considered a criminal offence.

A call of a serious nature may include:

• a threat to kill or seriously injure someone;d
• a threat to damage property;
• sexually explicit language or behaviour;
• language that is unacceptable in day-to-day usage such as swearing.

Nuisance calls

These may include hang up calls, kids playing pranks, hoax calls, or multiple calls between midnight and 5am. Hoax calls may be  impersonations of people from organisations or false delivery orders.

If the calls you are receiving involve a current protection order, we advise you to contact the Police, as the calls may be a breach of the protection order, and may lead to prosecution.

Non-speech calls

This is where the caller holds the line and does not speak or breathes heavily; or the caller may terminate the call when answered. Why do people do this? It is weird and annoying, and we can't really see what they get out of it.

Computer-generated calls

These are commonly fax or modem calls received on a residential telephone line. This tends to occur as a result of incorrect dialing. The sender will most often realise the mistake quickly and discontinue attempts to dial.

As with 'non-speech' calls, Orcon is only able to look into fax or modem calls if they are an on-going problem.

Contacting Orcon

If you are receiving calls that you consider to be a nuisance Orcon may be able to assist. However, we are only able to investigate if it is causing serious problems and calls are occurring on an on-going basis.

At anytime you can fill out a CALL INVESTIGATION FORM which will give us the details we need to investigate further.

An Orcon staff member may advise you to log nuisance calls over a period of time to determine the frequency and extent of the problem. If the representative considers that the calls do constitute a breach of the Telecommunications Act they will then investigate.

It is important to note that if a representative does investigate your complaint they will not be able to provide you with the number of the offending call. Orcon will deal with the situation on your behalf, keeping both parties confidential.

Precautions: Staying safe when using the phone

When answering the telephone do not give your telephone number or full name. This includes the personal message on your answer machine.

• Do not volunteer information about yourself, number or address to unknown callers.
• If you do not want to talk with the caller, politely disconnect the call.
• Don't be drawn into an argument that can't be solved on the telephone.

What to do in the event of receiving nuisance calls

A large number of nuisance calls are to randomly selected numbers where the caller continues to dial that number and annoy the recipient of that call. If the call is malicious or abusive, stay calm and try no to show any agitation or distress. If the calls are persistent you should:

• Log all calls by including the date, time & duration of calls. This will help establish a pattern.
• Try to determine whether the caller is male or female, their approximate age, any accent or if there is any background noise.
• Try to think of anyone you may suspect of making the calls.
• Issue a formal warning to the Offender "I will be laying a complaint with the Police. Do not call me again". Note date & time of warning in log.
• Consider having your telephone number changed to a confidential listing. If you have a confidential listing, be careful about giving this number out. Remember if you have your number changed but do not have a confidential listing your number will be available through directory service.
• If the calls are of a life threatening nature, contact the Police immediately.