Mysterious Caller Disturbs Union Students

At least two Secondary School Program (SSP) students living in Greenough Hall this summer received harassing phone calls last week, one of whom filed a complaint with the Harvard University Police Department (HUPD) on July 6.

At least some of the reported phone calls were made early in the morning by a caller with a raspy, whispering voice, according to victims, all of whom are in high school and studying at Harvard Summer School.

HUPD would not speculate on whether the calls were placed by a single person or by multiple parties.

“There’s been talk that it’s the same caller,” HUPD spokesman Steven G. Catalano said this week. “We don’t know for sure.”

“I’m not going to be giving specific details out of respect for the victim,” Catalano said.

According to HUPD’s crime log, the investigation is open.

One student, who awoke at 3:55 a.m. to a mysterious phone call, said that she thought the call was not intended for her.

The victim’s dorm room telephone number differed by only one digit from that of a hallmate who had already received multiple obscene calls, so she guessed that the call was “random,” or accidental, and meant for her hallmate.

“He had that spooky, real raspy voice,” she said. “It was like four o’clock in the morning, so I was pissed. I picked up the phone and said hello, that person said a creepy hello that woke me up and I said ‘hello’ and he said ‘hello’ and I unplugged the phone.”

The victim, who wished to remain anonymous, told her hallmate that she thought she had received a call intended for her.

“I was kind of more scared for my hallmate,” the victim said. “He actually knew her name. She thought that he was normal so they were actually talking. I’m not worried too much about it, because it was random or I think it was.”

The best strategy in dealing with a harassing phone call, Catalano said, is not to give the caller the benefit of a reaction.

“If they don’t know the person calling, just hang up. Don’t slam the phone down, don’t scream, don’t yell, don’t give any reaction. Just hang up,” Catalano said.

Catalano added that HUPD cannot take any action beyond enabling the victim who filed the report to track the source of the calls, should the calls continue.

“We provided information to the person about how they can trace their calls. The victim will make the decision whether she wants to do to put a call trace procedure on her phone,” Catalano said.

Catalano reported that last year alone HUPD responded to 53 reports of harassing phone calls, but that an estimated 50 additional complaints about harassing calls are instead classified as “suspicious activity.” On average, Catalano said, approximately a hundred harassing or suspicious phone calls are reported to the police department each year.

Catalano refused to speculate on whether the recent spate of calls could be related to these previous complaints.

In October 2003 and December 2004, students complained about “sexually provocative” phone calls made early in the morning by a “whispering” caller.

In November 2001, HUPD officials traced calls from a so-called “serial whisperer,” infamous for phoning female undergraduates in the early morning hours to tell them he was “crazy about you.”

Some students reportedly received up to 30 calls from the man in a two-month period. HUPD traced the calls to determine the caller’s south Florida location and worked with officials there to order the man to stop calling. Complaints subsequently declined, according to HUPD.

“In the past, there have been some instances where people have felt it has been the same caller,” Catalano said, stressing, however, that this fact “is hard to determine.”

Catalano characterized calling in the early morning and speaking in a low voice as a “tactic” rather than a trademark.

“One of the reasons people call early in the morning is when they’re waking someone up out of bed, they’re groggy, so it’s a little harder to tell who it is,” Catalano said. “The early morning call, the caller will often whisper.”

“If I call you in the morning, I’m going to get you off guard,” Catalano said, describing the whisperer mentality.

—Jonathan P. Gordon, Chaz C. Kelsh, and Beth Pedersen contributing to the reporting of this story.

—Staff writer Samuel C. Scott can be reached at sscott@fas.harvard.edu.