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the boys been a bit daft and needs to stop someone threatening him. all been reported to the police who've suggested changing his number which id also suggested. the problem with this is that it seems people can still message you even if you have a new sim in.
i tried it with him earlier, i gave him my sim to mimic a new number, his was on the side, i messaged him from my laptop and he still got it on his phone, so for some reason you cant seem to shake that previous contact.
any ideas how you can stop someone contacting you this way? its not just one number thats calling/messaging by the way, so just blocking someone would still mean theyd use another number.
he's a bag of nerves at the moment so is there any way of getting to a 'new sim/new whatsapp' position?
thanks
Pretty sure you need to do more than just swap the sim. It’s tied to your number so you swap the sim and update the registered number in WhatsApp:
How to change your phone number
ah lovely, thank you very much
did it work?
I changed my sim and lost my whatsapp access so had to make a new one but had lost all my contacts
Can he not just block the sender?
You can change your settings so unknown numbers can't contact you. Actually changing your number won't achieve much - the new number will be displayed to all your legitimate contacts so it doesn't take much to get into other people's hands.
Aaah apologies. I’d still go down that route though, even if you have to block a dozen plus numbers, that’s easier than having to ask everyone you know to update your contact details? And even then there’s no guarantee they won’t find the new number. If the senders don’t get a reaction they’ll get bored. Treat each block as a victory, wasting their time setting up another number for you to block?
did it work?
I changed my sim and lost my whatsapp access so had to make a new one but had lost all my contacts
hes changed his number with vodafone and deleted his whatsapp account now so no way of these undesirables contacting him. whether that works or not when he finally reinstals whatsapp im not sure, so ill recommend he doesnt use it until we're 100% sure.
now we just have to hope that we dont get a 'personal visit' as they have his name and rough idea of where we live :-/
we're hoping its just a scam rather than some of the videos they sent him of what theyll do to him and his family.....
thanks for your help
we're hoping its just a scam rather than some of the videos they sent him of what theyll do to him and his family.....
🫣
Hot it all works out - sounds scary
If they’re sending threats of physical harm shouldn’t the police be dealing with this?
Tracing the sender(s) should be straightforward from their phone number in the case of calls or text messages, or IP address in the case of WhatsApp calls or messages.
Uninstall it ?
all been reported to the police who've suggested changing his number which id also suggested. the problem with this is that it seems people can still message you even if you have a new sim in.
its not just one number thats calling/messaging by the way, so just blocking someone would still mean theyd use another number.
If these are things that have persisted after you've reported to the police and taken the action they suggested it's worth reporting back that the situation is ongoing. If their suggested course of action hasn't worked they need to know it hasn't (otherwise it looks to them like the've given you great advice) but it might also mean the issue gets referred to someone with more relevant expertise. The problem in this instance is the advice you've been given has been given by someone who doesn't know how WhatsApp works, which is fair enough becuase most people don't. But they'll have officers that deal with things like stalking (which if the sender is using multiple accounts and so on this is at least adjacent to) who'd have a better handle onto how to get that clean break
It seems to me that before re-installing anything there may be sense in contacting WhatsApp and asking how to create an wholly fresh account as I imagine the default is to try and help people maintain their identity and connections when they change phone/sim/provider/number rather than make a fresh start. They may have some FAQs pertaining to things like stalking that would maybe help
sounds scary
it is indeed
If they’re sending threats of physical harm shouldn’t the police be dealing with this?
Tracing the sender(s) should be straightforward from their phone number in the case of calls or text messages, or IP address in the case of WhatsApp calls or messages.
incident logged with police but the boy is loathe to give names and phone numbers involved due to the fear of repercussions to all of the family, including his young daughter (our grandaughter)
Uninstall it ?
he has done for now, will probably look at reinstalling when he can be sure his new number doesnt show up
If these are things that have persisted after you've reported to the police and taken the action they suggested it's worth reporting back that the situation is ongoing. If their suggested course of action hasn't worked they need to know it hasn't (otherwise it looks to them like the've given you great advice) but it might also mean the issue gets referred to someone with more relevant expertise. The problem in this instance is the advice you've been given has been given by someone who doesn't know how WhatsApp works, which is fair enough becuase most people don't. But they'll have officers that deal with things like stalking (which if the sender is using multiple accounts and so on this is at least adjacent to) who'd have a better handle onto how to get that clean break
we were told by police control that an officer would be in touch within 48 hrs, we're nearly at that point now with no contact. i gave my number as a secondary contact due to the boy changing his number.
to be honest im really p1ssed off with the boy. hes going through a hard time due to break up of relationship, but theres no excuse for doing what he did whilst p1ssed as its potentially put his family in danger. we have to go lightly with him due to his state of mind from both the break-up and now this, but his actions have led to me being wary of seeing our grandaughter in case of machete wielding loons turning up, and also being wary of just walking around the village.
as the days/weeks go by then im sure we'll rest a little easier, and it may indeed be a scam, but that first day (sunday) was a nightmare trying to digest what he'd done, try and keep him safe from doing something daft to himself, and also try and put damage limitations into place.
i wont be laughing about this for a long time.
thanks for your help everyone
All the very best of luck to you and your family. I hope it ends well, and soon.