Dealing with Nuisance Calls and Text Messages

If you are receiving nuisance phone calls and text messages you are not alone. Telecom receives about 3000 complaints a month and operates a specialised call centre to assist customers who are receiving unwanted telephone calls and text messages.

The following information has been designed to provide advice on the prevention of unwanted calls and text messages and the procedure to follow if you do receive them.

Types of calls and text messages

Serious speech calls or text messages
If you have received a call of a serious nature, in other words a threatening, abusive, obscene or hoax telephone call or text message, contact your local police station for advice. Such calls or text messages could be considered a criminal offence or may involve criminal activity and should be discussed with the police. A call of a serious nature may include

a threat to kill or seriously injure a person
a threat to damage property
sexually explicit language or behaviour
language that is unacceptable in day-to-day usage such as swearing

If you are receiving text messages or calls that are bullying you can find out more information here.

If you have received a life-threatening call or text message contact the Police immediately.

Nuisance calls or text messages
These may include, hang up calls, children playing, hoax calls, multiple calls or text messages between midnight and 5am. Hoax calls are generally false orders for food or taxis or the impersonation of a person or a representative of an organisation.

Please note: If you receive unwanted calls/text messages between midnight and before 5am we may be able to investigate without following the usual process of 7 days of calls being logged.

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.

If you are receiving nuisance calls please use our nuisance call log form.

Non-speech calls
These are of an annoying nature where the caller holds the line and does not speak or breathes heavily; also the caller may terminate the call when answered.

Computer-generated calls
Most commonly fax or modem calls received on a residential telephone line. These tend to occur as a result of mis-dialling when trying to send a fax or access a modem. The sender will most often realise the mistake quickly and will discontinue attempts to dial. As with 'non-speech' calls, Telecom is only able to look into fax or modem calls if they are an on-going problem.

Contacting us

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

You can contact the Telecom Call Investigation Centre on 0800 809 806 during the hours of 8am - 5pm, Monday to Friday (excluding statutory holidays). Please be ready to provide the date, time and nature of the call or text message and an Investigator will assist with your complaint.

A Telecom representative may advise you to log nuisance calls/text messages 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. If this applies to you, use the log provided (PDF 623KB) to establish the extent of the problem.

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. Telecom will deal with the situation on your behalf, keeping both parties confidential.

Precautions

There are five basic precautions to take to discourage malicious or unwanted telephone calls

When answering the telephone do not answer giving your telephone number or full name. This includes your personal message on your Call Minder or answer machine
Do not volunteer information about yourself, number or address to unknown callers
If you do not want to converse with the caller, politely disconnect the call
Don't be drawn into an argument that can't be solved on the telephone
Let the phone ring more often before answering it. This gives you some control over the stress of answering a call you expect to be hostile

What to do in the event of receiving nuisance calls and/or text messages

A large number of nuisance calls/texts 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 with 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 to anyone through directory service
If the calls are of a life threatening nature, contact the Police immediately

What not to do

Do not reveal shock or anger. In most cases this is what the caller wants
Do not blow a whistle into the mouthpiece. The caller may do the same to you

REMEMBER, WHEN MAKING A COMPLAINT TO TELECOM YOU WILL BE REQUIRED TO PROVIDE AN ACCURATE TIME OR TIMES OF THE CALL(S) RECEIVED.

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