Gerald Picolla, a college sophomore in Albany, was out clubbing one night last November when he met another student and gave her his cellphone number.
“Within a couple of days, I started to see some red flags that this was not a girl that would work for me,??? said Mr. Picolla, 20. “I tried to let this go as painlessly as possible,??? he added, but “she literally started calling my phone 80 or 90 times a day with a restricted number.???
To end the onslaught of calls, he turned to a new service, TrapCall, that unmasks the telephone number and name behind an anonymous call, and, in some cases, provides the caller’s address. It also allowed Mr. Picolla to put the number on a “do not receive??? list, which gives the caller a message saying the number they have called is no longer in service.
In a twist, TelTech also offers a way out of TrapCall for those intent on keeping their phone number and name hidden. Called Spoofcard, the service allows callers to buy a false outbound phone number for a certain period of time that appears on the recipient’s caller ID screen.
Even so, people plagued by unknown callers may be able to use TrapCall to trace the perpetrator before he or she knows it, said Alexis A. Moore of El Dorado, Calif., who founded the nonprofit crime victims’ organization Survivors in Action after years of receiving untraceable phone calls.
“Most victims I have spoken with already are changing their phone plans so they will be able to use the technology,??? she said.
“If it’s not easy,??? she added, “most people doing that kind of calling won’t continue it.???
