How do police phone calls happen?

Posted by hydrophobic-potato@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 290 comments

As of 30 mins ago I was called by ‘No Called ID’ of someone saying ‘Hi I’m calling on behalf of (county name) police about an allegation made against you, please call us back.’ and I don’t know if it’s a scam or not. I’ve never been in this situation and I haven’t committed any crimes so I don’t know why I’d ever get this call. I have a gut feeling that it is just a prank/scam call but on the off chance it’s not I’m worried about consequences of ignoring it. Is it real and what do I do?

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Limp-Preparation4075@reddit

Hi, I'm in urgent need of advice. Two years back I got accused by my ex gf for harassment and stalking all I did was find out she was cheating on me and I called her out on her behavior. But I lost the case w on't go into details about it not really important. I've been doing my probation got my stuff back no big issues etc. Today while working I missed an 074 phone number and I got a voice message. Once hearing it my heart came out backside as someone being a police officer claimed I was being suspected of either sexual assault or harassment. Now I know that's not true. But when I rang back asking he said either you come in or we arrest you we want to know both sides of the story. What story!!! I've got a girlfriend and I barely socialize with anyone!! Just my small group of friends about 5 of us. (And I've been around 1 of them for the last year)Anyway when I asked how that allowed he says we can be difficult if you want. I agreed and the officer texted my appointment. I find it weird because an accusation like that should have officers knocking on my door to begin with?? Speaking to my friends they all said it's a bit odd because yes I'm on probation probably a case of mistaken identity or it's a scam or my crazy ex. Right now I'm paranoid, compared to the treatment I got last time with the UK law. What do I do? Are police allowed to text and ring from personal numbers I didn't get that last time? Are they allowed to threaten me with arrest? I did ask who said that in annoyance (I was already having a bad day with work)and he says you know who and to not message that person. Like seriously wtf is going on. Can anyone help me here

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Blade_runner85@reddit

Ignore it - Police will know where you live if they need you they will call round to your house. Happened to my AH ex husband when he was at work and I had the pleasure of opening the door at home.

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RealLongwayround@reddit

What makes you think police know where everyone lives?

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Blade_runner85@reddit

Drivers license, utility bill, postal service, social media, known acquaintances, phone records, police cctv cameras on the street intersections, credit cards, vehicle registration, government applications for just about anything, credit bureau and credit inquiries, lease agreements, property owned, property purchased…

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RealLongwayround@reddit

We don’t have access to most of that without *very* good reason. Where there is threat to life, we can apply for access to some of that information. To use vehicle registration, we’d first need to know your VRM. From just your name, we cannot find your VRM. We’d need to know at least your name and DOB to perform a DL check. I’m fairly sure that the DL check does not give us your address. We don’t have routine access to property records. Again, there would need to be threat to life for us to be able to apply for this information.

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Blade_runner85@reddit

As mentioned in my first comment a report of historic abuse was made against my ex husband some 20 years after it happened the victim didn’t know his address but the police showed up at our house so obviously they must have resources to locate people.

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RealLongwayround@reddit

Sure, we have resources to locate people. The electoral roll is often used in the first instance. Also, if your ex-husband has previously contacted police then we may well have a record of his contact details. Has he been issued a speeding fine by his local force at any time in the last decade?

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Ok-Seaworthiness-186@reddit

Just ignore it, if they want you they'll have to come out.

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super_man100@reddit

I highly doubt they'd have your phone number and they'd know your name

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Salty_Intention81@reddit

Call the main switchboard of your force (dial 101) and ask if there is an officer of that name. Or give any reference number you’ve been left. Previous comment is incorrect, I often make phone calls to people rather than driving out to see them.

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hydrophobic-potato@reddit (OP)

All the call says was ‘Hi this is (county name) police, please give us a call back regarding an allegation that’s been made against you. Thank you.’ And that’s the whole voicemail.

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CrazyMike419@reddit

Did they leave a number to call? If so google it. If they didn't then call 101 and check to be sure

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hydrophobic-potato@reddit (OP)

No they didn’t, they said to call them back but didn’t leave a number and it was on no caller id so idk how I even could call them back

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CrazyMike419@reddit

As a tech that deals with scams that would be a poor quality scam. Give 101 a call. Its probably just somthing silly.

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Flatlyn@reddit

I’ve seen similar scams to this, albeit not mentioning the specific county police—they tend to be more generic. It’s not a poor quality scam. The idea is that by leaving a voicemail if the call was unanswered, especially without callback details, it leaves the person worried and on edge and therefore more susceptible to falling for the scam when they call back later that day/following day/whatever the dialler selects the number again. It would seem this one is more than likely real though due to the mention of a specific county police force. The scams tend to go country wide so no specifics, but if they are using a double callback it’s not out of the realms of possibility they personalised it a bit with the information they had on the phone number i.e. where it’s located/registered.

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Previous-System742@reddit

Don't be ridiculous do you really think police personalise voicemail for individual numbers to call back on.. only officers involved would mention an allegation.. if they want a person to call them they would leave officers name and number 🙄

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rjstoz@reddit

When I worked on government helplines, we had a form to report nuisance numbers pretending to be us- no more really than reporting them through the gov.uk site, but it's always worth finding an official number and calling back to verify inbound calls

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Alarmed_Grapefruit13@reddit

This is a acam

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ImBonRurgundy@reddit

You would google the number for [country name] police and call them, obviously.

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Shriven@reddit

A police force of several thousand people is not going to only have one number

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ImBonRurgundy@reddit

It’s just 101

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Shriven@reddit

It just isn't. 101 goes to the control room for the area you're calling from. They have no access to officers work phones or phones in other offices

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WirelessWarren@reddit

Wrong, the control room can patch a call directly through to an officer's radio at least they can on the Sepura radio's we and a number of other forces use.

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Shriven@reddit

My force doesn't have sepuras and absolutely does not have that ability.

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Burnsy2023@reddit

If it's a force in the UK, they'll be using Airwave and this is a common capability for all forces regardless of the handsets. Whether it's common practice is another question, but the capability is there.

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Shriven@reddit

Interesting - I spent 3.5 years in control room, lots of my friends are control room and they've never heard of this but agree it must be possible. Pointless and possibly dangerous, but possible. an office based role ( say, CID) won't have their radios on 99% of the time. They will have landlines and mobile phones, none of which will be 101.

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RealLongwayround@reddit

We can pass calls through from switchboard to any number. When you get through to the control room in my force, you first get to switchboard. Yesterday I passed people through to HR, to CID and to Safer Roads.

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Shriven@reddit

But none of this is relevant to the OP as he has no idea who called him. The control room won't know either.

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RealLongwayround@reddit

We quite possibly will.

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Burnsy2023@reddit

In my force, it used to be much more common before everyone got personal issue phones, it still occasionally happens but much less now. Some forces have had mobile phones much longer than we did, so I imagine the knowledge around it might be limited to people who have been there a long time.

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goodluckbuttermug@reddit

This is true but it's not used much.

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Burnsy2023@reddit

That depends entirely on which force you're talking about.

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Another_AdamCF@reddit

Sounds like one of those things that might be possible, but almost no-one knows it exists and exactly zero people use it.

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goodluckbuttermug@reddit

Have you called it? It tells you which force you are being out through too then gives the option to select a different one.

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Shriven@reddit

Can't say I have actually, I always use webchat for non emergencies.

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Another_AdamCF@reddit

I think his point was that, if you google "Sandford Police phone number", you'll get numbers for dozens of different departments and staff/officers. To call 101, you need to be in the county of the force that called you.

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RealLongwayround@reddit

Nope. Call 101. Do it now. You’ll notice that before you get through to anyone, you are given the option to choose a particular Force (sorry, service. Force is too aggressive.)

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Another_AdamCF@reddit

You're completely right, yeah. Bit of a silly thing for me to get wrong considering I've called 101 a good few times in the past.

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GuyOnTheInterweb@reddit

Assuming the alleged incident was in the same county!

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goodluckbuttermug@reddit

No, 101 is central and you have the. Option to request a different force

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goodluckbuttermug@reddit

Yep- In fact it will have 2 101 and 999

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Drew_Peecock@reddit

Clear b.s. or scam. Any police call has to give you clear contact information and a way to contact them.

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AshL94@reddit

You'd be surprised how dumb / tired some officers are

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RealLongwayround@reddit

If only. Sadly some officers still give very little detail when calling. When we take the call back, it can be a pain to find out why they were asked to call.

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h00dman@reddit

It's been a decade since my last brush with the law (not guilty, just witnessed an assault and had to give a statement), and this is how it was for me - a voicemail with a name, a telephone number, and the name and address of the station I needed to get to. When I called them back I mentioned I didn't have a car so they offered to send someone to collect me on the day. It was quite funny actually as they arrived at my house early, and my housemate was in but didn't know a police officer was due to arrive, so I got home and the two of them were having a lovely chat in the kitchen. I got to sit in the back of a police car! I should probably remember it more seriously but it was a pretty cool experience.

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islandhopper37@reddit

I would just leave it and wait for them to contact you again.

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ThomasRedstone@reddit

Because it's a no ID call and they don't want you to trust it, so they're expecting you to know you just call 101. If they gave you a number, even 101, I suspect they feel it could let to people being more likely to trust scams.

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Sensitive_Log3990@reddit

You don't know how to phone the police? Can I have your address please 😂

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Perfect-Height-8837@reddit

One old trick is to get you to call. They say you're needed at the station for some unspecified but urgent reason. You drive off in a panic. Then they burgle your house

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Chicken_shish@reddit

I‘ve had this, and every time the officer left his work mobile number. Unless it is really important, it will get assigned to some bloke who works random shifts. At some reasonable time he will call, probably not get an answer and leave a message. There is no point in him having you call the main switchboard because it won’t reach him in time. its probably a crank call, not a scam.

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Saxon2060@reddit

I was surprised when I last had to deal with the police (witnessed a fatal road accident) and the constable at the scene said a Constable Smith or whatever would be in touch. About 3 weeks later I just got a text message from a normal 07- number saying it was PC Smith and to text him back to tell him when he can come to my house and get a statement. It was legit, just felt very informal! Haha.

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goodluckbuttermug@reddit

Police do use text a lot now especially if they carry work mobile devices

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BiggestFlower@reddit

Next they’ll turn up at your door claiming you didn’t call them back. That’s when they’ll scam you, if it’s a scam and not a wind up / crank call / stalker.

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Ruadhan2300@reddit

Yeah, that's 100% a scam. The police would leave better instructions, likely including a reference number or similar. I'd ignore it entirely as a scam and only treat it as real if I got another contact which pushed it further and gave actionable information. If you're really concerned, call the switchboard at 101 and tell them your story. They'll probably agree it's a scam, but if not, they can sort you out.

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BuildingArmor@reddit

What's the scam here though? There's no mechanism to scam OP with that voicemail.

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charley_warlzz@reddit

Its a poor quality scam, theyre meant to give a number so they can use it to verify that a) someone has and is using the number, and b) said person is liable to fall for something like that. They missed a step, lol.

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originallionhunter@reddit

It could be part of the set up for a scam though. Soften up the target and get them worried with no clear action, then call and put lots of pressure on to act right now

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harryhound47@reddit

I'd argue that a scam would probably leave a phone number or some way to contact them as opposed to forcing you to call the police, seems like a pretty shit scam if it is

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Ruadhan2300@reddit

I would expect the intent is you hit the call-back option directly. If they gave a number, it'd be trivial to see its either not local or entirely unrelated to the police. By obfuscating, they reduce their audience but hide a potential Tell about it being a scam. Benefit of doubt is a common attitude and this tactic preys on it. If you're smart enough to call 101 and investigate what's going on, you're too smart to be fooled in the next step of the scam anyway, so they weed out some time-wasters that way too.

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Flat_Development6659@reddit

>I would expect the intent is you hit the call-back option directly. That's not how no-caller ID works though, there's no callback option to a hidden number. Your network provider can see the number but you can't.

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BlockCharming5780@reddit

With no caller id the voicemail won’t have a number to call back 🤔

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Happy_Ad_7512@reddit

It's obviously bullshit. 99.999% fake or 0.001% something that doesn't matter. If you'd killed and eaten your neighbour they wouldn't leave a message asking you to phone them would they?

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Winter-Duck5254@reddit

Bro what is this post? Fuckin look up the number for that station online. Call the station they said they were from and see what they wanted. If it was a scam, you can report it to them, if not, you find out what they wanted. I'm a bit flabbergasted anyone needs this advice to be honest.

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hydrophobic-potato@reddit (OP)

Sorry mate, I’m 16 years old and have never had this happen before, do you want to take a chill pill? What might seem obvious to you isn’t necessarily obvious to everyone else. If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything.

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Winter-Duck5254@reddit

Fair enough. Didn't know you were a minor. It's a little suprising they didn't contact your parents instead. I'd still call that counties police department and see what's up. Or get your parents to.

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DazzleBMoney@reddit

Although police do call from withheld numbers, I’ve never known them to leave a voicemail, that doesn’t sound like something they would typically do. Sounds like it could potentially be a scam

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2Fast2Mildly_Peeved@reddit

We do leave voicemails, however they'd have more detail than that. "Hello, this is PC 1234 Bloggs from Northumbria Police, this is a message for [Insert Name], can you contact me back either on this number, this email address [insert email address] or by calling 101, ensuring you request Northumbria Police, and asking to either be put through to PC 1234 Bloggs or to leave a message for me. Thanks."

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RealLongwayround@reddit

Northumbria clearly gives better training than a force on the opposite side of the Pennines.

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2Fast2Mildly_Peeved@reddit

Ha, I’m not Northumbria, just trying to avoid any doxxing!

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RealLongwayround@reddit

And I’m not saying how far west of the Pennines I am…

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2Fast2Mildly_Peeved@reddit

🤐

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SmokingLaddy@reddit

I had two voicemails from the police last year, they were just trying hard to find me, they went to my house and I wasn’t there, it definitely happens.

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DazzleBMoney@reddit

Fair enough, I’m just speaking from my experience where they didn’t do that, even though they were trying to call me for a witness statement to a serious crime

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SmokingLaddy@reddit

It was useful having the policeman’s number, I wrote it on a few toilet cubicle doors, free blowjobs.

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caffeine_lights@reddit

I've heard of this before. It was a non-urgent reason in that case.

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Salty_Intention81@reddit

Sounds odd, but also not a great scam. Call 101, tell them about the call, give your details and they can check whether you have been recorded against any crime. If not then just ignore.

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GlasgowBAB@reddit

The fact they're asking a question suggests it could be a good scam. Impersonation scammers will convince people to move money, Pay fees, give control of their Phone or computer. You'd be surprised how simple shit can unfold. For example the whole "You have an undelivered package, We've tried 3 times to deliver your parcel. If you wish for us to reattempt delivery give us a date you'll be home. confirm your address is correct and pay the £2 fee. Boom, A week later you get a call from "THE BANK!" they know you're home. They know your address and your bank details. They tell you that there have been a bunch of payments come out of your account. You sign into your account and confirm these aren't you. But you've just been bamboozled. The people on the phone are the fraudsters not the bank. You don't know this and cough up a bunch of personal info and you confim your verification codes to give them access to your account. Or you send money to a bank account they've created using your personal details.

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Mistabushi_HLL@reddit

I would ask them where is that Fckin parcel they promised to deliver. To be fair I’ve been scammed by Evri and never got my money back so technically anyone will scam you. I don’t care who’s calling, could be the pope itself right off the bat I assume it’s a scam.

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RhetoricalPoop@reddit

Just call 101 give your name and phone number, they will let you know if they have anything open on file for you. Alternatively if there is a station near you just go in and speak to reception

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fordfocus2017@reddit

It’s a scam call. Did they ask for a specific person?

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Lossn@reddit

I absolutely despise officers which do this At least hi it's officer 49294 please call us back gives the 101 somewhere to start That and slips through the door which just state call 101 "Why are you calling" "Was told to" "About what?" "Dunno"

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RealLongwayround@reddit

This happens too often. Source: I’m currently in the control room and waiting for your call.

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GlasgowBAB@reddit

Its a scam. If the poepoe want you they come for you.

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Jenksy-@reddit

Yeah ring 111 likely a scam but 111 will confirm it. Or there's the 111 website if you don't want to physically speak to someone

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Kaiisim@reddit

I'm imagining you phoning someone and asking "did you do a crime? No? Okay see you bye!"

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Dogstile@reddit

That is roughly how it works. I had a spiteful ex make some claims and I got a call saying "hi, have you been doing this" "no" "well you know you're not allowed to do that" "yes, i know, i haven't done that" "you know if this continues we'll have to investigate" "yes, that's fine" "they also reported you as a risk for self harm" "tell her to stop harassing me please, thanks"

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SmokingLaddy@reddit

I hope she got charged for wasting police time. When I was a teen a man attacked me and broke all of his fingers somehow, I still don’t completely understand how he hurt himself so badly. I was arrested for GBH and it was headline in the local newspaper “yob attacks local man” with my age and vague address but no name due to age. After statements they believed mine over his, the policeman asked me if I wanted to instead press charges for GBH against the ‘victim’ but I declined, policeman did give me his name and address though, he knew my dad was a savage. He was an old school copper and long retired now. ‘Victim’ ended up getting some fingers amputated from the damage, this was nearly 20 years ago now.

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Admirable_Panda_6764@reddit

Similar thing happened to my boyfriend. He was out with friends and walking home at the end of a night out. A middle aged drunken trollop of a woman comes stumbling out of a nearby bar and starts heckling them and getting in their face. Her son then pulled up in the taxi he had booked to pick his drunk mum in, got out and swung for my boyfriend, who then reacted faster and smacked the son across his face. Next morning my boyfriend’s photo was all over the local Facebook group claiming he had assaulted the woman and her son, and people were calling him all sorts. It gave him such bad anxiety he essentially went into hiding. She claimed on the post she’d been to the police, but my bf went and they said no such report had been made. She even went as far as to go to the city’s newspaper for some quick cash describing the “vicious assault”. He also had a “phonecall” from the police, where the police officer proceeded to call him a cunt. All sounded a bit too planned from this woman, but unfortunately she didn’t have any amputated fingers.

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SmokingLaddy@reddit

It’s awful and it happens far too often, I have seen people driven out of towns for things that were not entirely their fault. Hope you and your boyfriend don’t have that drama now, nobody needs that shit 🫡.

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Salty_Intention81@reddit

Ha not quite! More like “Hi, an allegation has been made against you. Don’t panic, we’d like you to come in for a voluntary interview rather than go down the arrest route. Are you available on x date at x time? We’ll give you all the details then, and you can tell us your version of events. Would you like us to arrange a solicitor for you? It’s completely free and it would be someone there independent from the police to advise you on the interview. Ok, we’ll arrange for one to get here at the same time you do. Come to the front desk and ask for <me>. Thanks so much, see you then.”

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Cussec@reddit

You a rozzer?

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Which_Pound5447@reddit

I hope you can realise that unexpected phone calls can be fatal to people with certain medical conditions.

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alphacentaurai@reddit

Can second this answer. Call 101 and say that you've received a call. The call handler will probably ask you to confirm some details and they should be able to let you know how to reach the correct person directly.

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Previous-System742@reddit

No police voicemail would say that its a scam..if an allegation had been made against you only the officers involved would say anything like that..even the main switchboard wouldn't say those words to you

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Lazilycasual@reddit

Police officers are people, some people are bad at leaving voicemails and do things like forget to leave a phone number to call back on. Doesn’t sound like a scam as they’ve not left a phone number to call back, so how would they scam you? Either just do nothing, the police will call you again or visit you should it be real. Or call 101, explain the voicemail and give your name, if you are a named suspect on a crime report it will be found easily and the officer can be notified that you’ve called.

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Happy_Ad_7512@reddit

>Police officers are people, some people are bad at leaving voicemails and do things like forget to leave a phone number to call back on. Doesn’t sound like a scam as they’ve not left a phone number to call back Aren't scammers people then?

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Lazilycasual@reddit

Yup, they could have. I said it doesn’t sound like a scam so either do nothing or call the police and ask if it was actually them as that’s the only way to get an answer.

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No_Potato2924@reddit

Hello

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ACatGod@reddit

Yup. I had one come to the door hoping my dash cam could give him footage of a robbery on the street corner. I was thrown for a moment because I didn't have a dash cam as far as I knew, but I'd bought the car relatively recently and in a rush because of lockdown and it seemed vaguely plausible that somehow I'd missed this major fact. He was adamant I did have a dash cam and insisted I walk down the street with him to see it - he was so adamant, I was actually convinced I'd somehow not realised. Reached my car and he points to the rear view mirror mount. Even then he had me doubting myself because he was so sure it was a camera. Told him I'd look into it, just to get rid of him and then spent a ridiculous amount of time with the owners manual and Google confirming there's no camera. Nothing about it looks like a camera and yet, so certain. He never checked back either.

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EpicFishFingers@reddit

Maybe the rain sensor for the auto wipers looked like a camera?

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ACatGod@reddit

No auto wipers.

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Plainapple287@reddit

I was waiting for a package one morning and had the police turn up at the door, confused but I just asked them what they were here for, apparently something had happened a few doors down and wanted our doorbell footage of what happened afterwards. Asked for our doorbell footage but didn’t give a name/number to call back on. went about my day after waiting for Royal Mail to turn up

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KC-2416@reddit

I worry for another emergency services and the default for outgoing calls is to come up as a withheld / private number. But we ask people to call back on either 999 and ask for us or we ask to call a specific other number which you would find if you Google us. I'd google that number in case it's a premium rate scam call. I'd check the number matches with an area code in that county. I'd have a feeling they'd send the local police to your house if it was real.

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hydrophobic-potato@reddit (OP)

There is no number though, it was on no caller ID and no number was left for me to call

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fentifanta3@reddit

The police don’t need to give you a number to ring back it’s common knowledge to call 101

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hydrophobic-potato@reddit (OP)

Just because it’s ‘common knowledge’ to some doesn’t mean it’s the same to all, I’m 16 and never been in this situation before, if I’m not told to and have no experience with this, how can I be expected to just know what to do? Perhaps consider before assuming.

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fentifanta3@reddit

You don’t know how to contact emergency services and you’re 16? That is a bit concerning, maybe have discussions with your parents. 999 for emergencies. 101 for non emergency police. 111 for non emergency NHS. It’s basic knowledge even most children are taught

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hydrophobic-potato@reddit (OP)

You’re misunderstood, I do not know which number to contact in this specific scenario, have some decorum.

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fentifanta3@reddit

Is it an emergency? No. Therefore you call the non emergency police number. I’m not understanding what your struggling with here. I’ve had calls from no caller ID asking me to call the police back, it’s pretty normal tbh. I get your young and maybe have had to do this before but equally it’s not rocket science

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hydrophobic-potato@reddit (OP)

Ignorance is bliss huh…

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VioletFirewind@reddit

No caller ID makes it FAR more likely to be the Police, as when they call you from the switchboard it shows as no caller ID. A scammer wants you to know their number.

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Flaramon@reddit

Then it's a prank.

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No-Phase-8086@reddit

It's a test designed to find out if they are a clairvoyant, and can call then back with no number. If you are then they will use you to solve crimes

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KC-2416@reddit

Ah ok that's weird. If it was a scam then they'd ask you to phone a specific number which is fake in some way eg a premium rate line.

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Lower-Squirrel4118@reddit

lol it’s a scam. If police really wanted to see you, they’d pay you a visit or send a letter. No one calls or texts you.

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computer_says_N0@reddit

No caller ID. No number left. No name of caller It doesn't even matter if it's genuine or not, you literally have no way of contacting them back Just wait for another call and get to the bottom of it then

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fentifanta3@reddit

No caller ID is how all emergency services & NHS contact you. Even a phone call from your GP will be no caller ID. No phone number- they don’t need to leave a phone number it’s common knowledge you contact the police via 101. No name of caller might just be a mistake

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ConnorHMFCS04@reddit

Could be mistaken, but for me the biggest red flag is that the police have tipped you off about an allegation over voicemail. I just refuse to believe that they'd do that. Even in such a case, they'd maybe attempt contact and arouse your curiosity, but they're not exactly gonna just leave a voicemail asking you to turn yourself in. Ignore it.

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fussdesigner@reddit

Why would it be a concern that the person is tipped off? Not all crimes are on the level of bank heists or drug smuggling. If the OP has, say, smashed a pub window while drunk a fortnight ago then why does it matter whether or not they know police want to speak to them? Voluntary interviews are extremely common. More than that, it's actually the default, by law, that a person be interviewed voluntarily rather than being arrested. Being asked to attend a police station to be interviewed about an allegation is an incredibly mundane part of investigations, it happens all the time.

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Dogstile@reddit

>More than that, it's actually the default, by law, that a person be interviewed voluntarily rather than being arrested Hey, i'm actually interested in this because they absolutely did not follow this with me, they straight up just showed up at my door and arrested me. Was in a cell for 18 hours before I got to chat with my solicitor and was then informed "They don't have evidence of anything, they should have asked you to come in voluntarily". Am wondering if I can possibly make a complaint.

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fussdesigner@reddit

There's nothing stopping you complaining but it's unlikely to get anywhere. When you were taken to the desk with the sergeant at the police station, the arresting officers will have explained what the necessity was for the arrest (it will have to be one of a given list of criteria from the legislation) and that will be recorded on the custody record. Just because voluntary interviews are the default doesn't mean that it's wrong to 'straight up show up at the door and arrest you'. I don't know if you want to say what you were arrested for but that might make it a bit easier to give you an idea.

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Dogstile@reddit

Next door neighbour and ex made stalking claims, gave the fuckers the times I went to and from the pub as her evidence. I assume it got signed off because our road names on our addresses are different despite our blocks of flats having doors that open onto the same road. 18 hours in a cell for me to go "...Yeah i live there".

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gottacatchthemswans@reddit

I would imagine they did this to prevent further offending namely risk of harm or further stalking to victims. To allow a prompt investigation, basically arrest is the quickest way to deal with it. I personally feel like a voluntary interview probably wasn’t the best option either. I presume whilst you were in custody they did their investigations which turned up no evidence. Have you had anything back about possible wasting police time for them if it was such a blatant lie? And to add about the arrest just to play devils advocate and you was a crazy stalker. You get a phone call asking you to attend a voluntary interview and you know it’s for that so you go and do something silly to yourself or the ex then the Police would be in the shit.

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Dogstile@reddit

>I presume whilst you were in custody they did their investigations which turned up no evidence. Of course. But yeah, if its a "we're worried this will harm said person" thing, I get it. I'm pursuing the wasting police time thing, but honestly i don't see them doing much about it. It's kinda difficult because i've not talked to this woman in six months, but she's been making reports for the entire time and when I ask the police what I can do to protect myself, they just say "wear a body cam". Which wouldn't really help because i'd obviously just turn it off if i wanted to go all crazy stalker.

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gottacatchthemswans@reddit

Maybe the body cam is to record any interactions you may have with her, but yeah like you say it doesn’t help prevent false accusations. Hope things get sorted for you soon, and I would persue things about wasting time as it will help prevent her from carrying on.

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fussdesigner@reddit

Yeah, no way a voluntary interview would be appropriate when the allegation is that you're stalking the next door neighbour. It would be something you do when the offence is 'over' - like if you've stolen from a shop or smashed a pub window. One of the necessities for arrest is to prevent harm to a person and that is clearly going to be in play if the allegation is of a stalker next door. It's still perfectly possible to stalk someone who lives in the same building as you; or even someone who lives in the same address as you.

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ConnorHMFCS04@reddit

Granted. But how can the police know that the recipient will receive this message? Is the phone number verified? I've worked with such sensitive information in the past and we would never disclose the reason for our call in a voicemail. Merely a simple call back. Keep it vague. Never know who misinformation can fall upon and it can be dangerous.

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fussdesigner@reddit

> But how can the police know that the recipient will receive this message? How can anyone know that anyone will receive any given message? > Is the phone number verified? What does that even mean in the context of a phone number though? There's no organisation that goes through the Yellow Pages putting little blue ticks next to the verified numbers. > Keep it vague. "We need to speak to you about an allegation" is about as vague as it gets. Given that the reasons for police trying to contact you can include "your house has been burgled" and "your son has died in a car accident" it would be be quite grossly inappropriate to leave people messages that just say "It's the police, call us back".

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RealLongwayround@reddit

Let’s say that Mr X has passed his phone number to Mrs X. Mrs X may now start asking Mr X what the police are alleging. If instead Police just say “This is in relation to log 1234”, Mr X can give a reason that does not imply any criminal activity.

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fussdesigner@reddit

Why does "log 1234" preclude there being any criminal activity? Is that log number specifically reserved for non-crime incidents? > if you called us yesterday from that number and we have visited you as a result, we have verified the number. Why does that mean that Mr X cannot have passed the phone to someone else? Or that it was never their number to begin with?

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ConnorHMFCS04@reddit

Exactly, you can't, so a genuine call of such nature would not contain anything sensitive. A verified number is plausible as perhaps they've had recent contact with that person on that number, perhaps several times. It wouldn't be inappropriate at all. I've had messages from the police before (none of an accused nature) and all I've had is a simple 'This is PC <insert name>, can you give me a call on this number'. Job done.

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YeahOkIGuess99@reddit

All I can add is that I have had a couple phonecalls from the cops before, after I had initially reported a crime. They then call back to take an initial statement and it comes up as No Caller ID, and they have left a message both times (because it was at like 10.30 at night). But both times they have given their name. This is probably unlikely to be a scam because why would they not give a fake phone number - but at the same time it is likely to be absolutely nothing. Just call the police station or 101 and explain the situation and they will be able to help out.

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Silver-Appointment77@reddit

If its real, they will ring you back, or ring your local police station or 101 and ask about it. They would be able to tell you if its a scam or not. Dont ring the number they gave you.

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Mistabushi_HLL@reddit

I get this calls every week, usually afternoon after a long phone call from Nigerian Prince.

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Devify@reddit

They should have given you a reference or a number to call if it's legit. But if you're worried, call 101 (non emergency line) and explain you got a call and they'll be able to check. If they say there's nothing then don't worry about it. If it is legitimate at all, you'll have history to say you tried.

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Select-Sprinkles4970@reddit

Look up the station the person is calling from and call that number or a general police number and ask them. Don't call back numbers left on your phone by some random with no caller ID.

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BobbyB52@reddit

I would caution against your last point- I am a coastguard officer and if we call you it will also show as a No Caller ID call. It is common for emergency services and we are supposed to tell you how to call us back (999 always works).

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Select-Sprinkles4970@reddit

I am not suggesting someone doesn’t ring 999. Just if someone leaves a number on an answering service, to go online and look up the number of their office or ring 112. Scammers are more likely to be ringing you than some guy who really is a police officer. When HMRC call they give a reference and the main number.

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BobbyB52@reddit

I never said you were, but our number will be withheld. We don’t give you our names and so we will say either to call back via 999 or on the number we have given you. My point is simply it isn’t a scam in every circumstance and if you have recently called an emergency service please do answer.

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Exact-Put-6961@reddit

Never call back via 999 unless emergency or crime in progress. 101 is the number.

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BobbyB52@reddit

For police, yes. For coastguard, we don’t have a separate number, and neither does fire, to my knowledge. So by all means, if it was HM Coastguard you are trying to contact, DO call us on 999.

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Exact-Put-6961@reddit

The thread is about contacting Police on non urgent matters. Your original remark was wrong and irrelevant.

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BobbyB52@reddit

And I am trying to provide context about No Caller ID calls from emergency services and to give some safety advice regarding calls from the emergency service for which I work, calm down mate.

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Exact-Put-6961@reddit

Don't be cheeky. You messed up by making a stupid and irrelevant remark. Police 999 operators are absolutely fully committed normally. It is a heavily loaded job. Last thing that is needed is your kind of stupidity. Non urgent calls should not be made to Police via 999. Please do not encourage 999 calls when they are not required

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BobbyB52@reddit

No, I didn’t, wind your neck in. I commented in relation to my own service. I’m sure being a police 999 operator is busy. Being a coastguard is too. However, speaking as a coastguard officer we absolutely do want people to call us back via 999 if they miss our initial call, but the need to do so is easily avoided by answering No Caller ID calls if they have recently called us. You may note, that was the point of my original comment.

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Exact-Put-6961@reddit

Pathetic. Missed point. Self justificatiry Reddit crap

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BobbyB52@reddit

Life must be very hard for you, having such poor reading comprehension coupled with such an awful personality.

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Exact-Put-6961@reddit

Your refusal to admit you were wrong is positively teenage. Constabularies cannot cope with random non urgent contacts through 999. A grown up would know that. The 999 service is there for a purpose. It very easily can get overloaded by non urgent calls which all have to be answered. Control Rooms are always stretched. Your sort of stupidity just makes matters worse. I am done with you. I do find it frightening that you are apparently holding down a responsible job in the 4th emergency service.

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RealLongwayround@reddit

Constabularies *can* cope. Nobody should dial Police on 999 unless it’s an emergency. However, I can assure you that there has been no point today or yesterday when my force has run out of operators to answer a 999 call. Right now, there are 17 agents available for 999 and for 101.

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Exact-Put-6961@reddit

Thank you for your support. I agree 999 is for emergencies only.

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RealLongwayround@reddit

May I encourage you to read my response? My response quite specifically mentioned Police only. When you want Coastguard, ring 999 as the professional at HM Coastguard has told you.

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Exact-Put-6961@reddit

The original enquiry was about contacting Police in a non urgent situation. The Coastguard , if that is what he is, said call 999. You and I both know that is wrong. We also know that the Police 999 contact can get a lot of non urgent calls which have to be answered as if they are urgent. Telling members of the public to contact through 999 for non urgent matters is fundamentally wrong. You agree. Leave it there.

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RealLongwayround@reddit

You will be amazed when you learn that conversations evolve. “Leave it there.”

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Exact-Put-6961@reddit

They do evolve. This one would have been more sane if the supposed Coastguard official had just agreed the obvious.

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RealLongwayround@reddit

“Leave it there.”

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BobbyB52@reddit

I think this guy has just failed to understand that for HMCG this is accepted practice even if it isn’t for police forces. I don’t know why they have struggled to comprehend that we are happy to be contacted in this way when the public have called us and we haven’t answered. I never even commented on the emergency aspect.

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RealLongwayround@reddit

I suspect our mutual correspondent is applying knowledge from one specific location and believing it applies generally. I advise people that I’d rather they call on 999 if they are in doubt since we can quickly advise them to ring 101. If they have rung 101 when the call should have been on 999 then we may well have answered too late to make an effective difference to an outcome.

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BobbyB52@reddit

Yeah, quite possibly- like I said, different services have different training and procedures, even amongst other police forces. HMCG is also a national emergency service without a national routine number and the 999 system will definitely link them to the desired coast guard station. This is exactly our thinking. If it isn’t an emergency we can pass the routine number (which is not often the easiest to find for us) and if it is, proceed as normal. As many of our calls start out with people unaware of the danger they are in it is preferable they call us on 999. And regarding calling us back when we have left a message, it is our preferred route due to the aforementioned lack of a national routine number.

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Select-Sprinkles4970@reddit

Obviously not is they say ring 112 or 999

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VioletFirewind@reddit

When I have reported crimes to the police it works in a similar way, they call back with No Caller ID and then say 'to get back in touch call 101 and provide this ID Number'

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BobbyB52@reddit

Exactly, they are supposed to leave some sort of reference or contact number- but mistakes can happen and not everything is a scam.

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RealLongwayround@reddit

Please don’t ring 112 unless it’s an emergency. Dial 101 for non-emergency calls.

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MargotChanning@reddit

Retail worker who reports a lot of theft here. When the police have wanted statements from me it always shows up as No Caller ID. However, if I can’t take the call they always leave a name and say they’ll try calling again. I’ve always known them start the message with “This is PC Smith” or whatever their name is.

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BobbyB52@reddit

Yeah, they should really tell you their name and leave some way of contacting them. Mistakes happen though. We don’t leave our names but we will say that we are from the coastguard.

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Relative_Eye8564@reddit

I highly doubt they would say what it was in connection with. I’ve not know them to leave voicemails either due to data protection.

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RealLongwayround@reddit

We’ll leave voicemail but that voicemail may be quite vague. For example, I’d leave a message saying “Hello, this is Xshire Police with a message for Mr Bloggs. Could you please call us on 101 to give us your availability today, quoting log reference 1234 of the 13th Feb?”

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notverytidy@reddit

Scam. The number they want you to call is probably a premium rate line. If the police want to speak to you, they would either send an officer or a written letter. They don't demand you do XYZ via phonecalls.

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RealLongwayround@reddit

This assumes that police know your location. We have phone numbers for a lot of people. Indeed we have a lot of phone numbers for some people. We don’t necessarily know where people live though.

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seanwhat@reddit

What crime did you commit

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RealLongwayround@reddit

I had someone ring yesterday who had been told he should ring Police because he was wanted. He had no idea why he was wanted. I did though.

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hydrophobic-potato@reddit (OP)

Idk, I’m interested to find out tho

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williamshatnersbeast@reddit

Could be someone has given them false details and your number happens to match? Or perhaps they’ve transposed a couple of digits when calling you. Hope you find out for peace of mind either way.

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penguin17077@reddit

Could be as simple as a parking violation someone has reported, blocking a drive or something silly

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Beanruz@reddit

Google the police number. Ring and ask them. Save the time of the reddit post.

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enthrone21@reddit

Lawyer up

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RuneHughes@reddit

If it was a scam they'd want to speak to you themselves or direct you to a scam number. They're literally telling you to contact the police. You're in trouble, or at least someone thinks you should be. Pissed anyone off lately?

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Slapedd1953@reddit

It’s a scam, I used to get very reassuring but stern sounding calls from the ‘local police force’ telling me I’d done nothing wrong but would I like to advertise my business in the local police magazine. Caller couldn’t even tell me the name of the constabulary. There was no magazine. I suppose some people fall for it.

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ConfidentLoss3513@reddit

I actually had this happen to me a long time ago I just ignored it and it went away If the coppers want to chat, they'll come to your house That being said I'd you've done something illegal could be worth following up with your local shop

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socandostuff@reddit

Unless it was Detective Horace Van Khute from the Zimbabwe telephone fraud prevention unit I wouldn't take it seriously.

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Cussec@reddit

If they want you they will come get you. It’s a scam.

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Hopeful_Parsnip_5338@reddit

This is likely genuine and common in my force, certainly I’ve left hundreds of voicemails of a similar nature. Ring 101 and provide your details and they’ll give you the OIC contact information

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Plus_Wedding_4419@reddit

They typically don't just come out of the blue like that. If there was any legitimate issue or allegation against you, it's more likely that the police would reach out through official channels, like sending a letter, showing up at your door, or leaving a message on your voicemail that can be traced back to them.

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TedBob99@reddit

How could it be a scam if they didn't give a number to call back on? Could just be a joke, a mistake from the Police or a genuine call.

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Nice_specs_bro@reddit

I had a call like that (when my husband stupidly bought something that turned out to be illegal using my AliExpress account. ) I called station vack and arranged an appointment for after my work hours.

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DaysyFields@reddit

Phone 101

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Gunbladelad@reddit

If they left a number in the message, do NOT call that number. Instead do a websearch for that area's police, and phone the number that shows up in the websearch and explain the situation. If it's genuine, they should be able to take your details and pass them on to the relevant officer.

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Early_Turn_2366@reddit

Or even better just call 101

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Maxo_Jaxo@reddit

It's totally irrelevant whether its real or not. If the police are asking you for your help in their investigation into their case against you, it's because they don't have any evidence that permits them to arrest you. If you attend an interview voluntarily however, they say 'the easiest way for you to prove you're innocent is if you answer questions and explain in detail about [blah blah blah]. That then becomes a sworn statement that is presented to the court as evidence of an admission of involvement, a guilty plea, a new and separate criminal offence of providing a false statement to the court, or even the old chestnut of wasting police time. Just to remind you - you're innocent until they prove you're guilty. They're responsible for that, the obligation is not on you to demonstrate that you are innocent, not involved or anything else. The fastest way to get their job done is to get a statement from you that can either be construed as a confession or contradicts another statement- which is just given to the court as evidence of your guilt. Well, we've got no proof, but he totally said something else another time which means he lied under oath which is another criminal offence so as we've already proved he's a criminal - he's probably tasty for that other thing too. Lets just totally fuck him over anyway. They're not just being friendly, helpful, trying to clear things up, just don't understand about - get fucked. They will confuse intimidate and lie to you and are allowed to do it because you voluntarily chose to assist and anything that you say can be used for evidence from that moment onwards. Help them with fucking nothing. If they want your time then they will have to legally detain you for questioning but they obviously don't have any grounds to do that otherwise they'd be arresting you for questioning, detaining you, conducting the investigation or charging you, not asking for your assistance. A proper copper would leave their name, rank, police station and department (I think). If iwere you, if ignore it totally unless you're the that that drives around with that shiny laser disco ball shooting out of that goddammed shitty car that drives around at 3am.....

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gottacatchthemswans@reddit

Not the best advice to say ignore voluntary interviews. Yes officers may not have the necessity to arrest initially but you refusing to attend a voluntary interview will more than likely give them that necessity. Voluntary interviews are not a confession finder. It just gives the officers and the suspects a chance to be interviewed without the problem of being arrested and all the issues that brings to you. Nothing is forcing you to give an account, if you wish to go no comment then all of your fears of forcing a confession are gone and you don’t spend hours in custody.

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Sketty_Spaghetti14@reddit

Get their badge and warrant nos. Then, contact the police in your local area to confirm it.

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Physical_Adagio3169@reddit

If genuine, they would’ve left a number. Don’t worry about it. If the police wanted to speak to you, they would have knocked on your door. I know as I did for the past 30 years is call on folks I needed to speak to. So relax. Not worth the stress until it’s real.

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AdrenalineAnxiety@reddit

If they didn't give you a number that matches the local force number you can get off google, and they didn't leave a name that you can ask for at the station, then it's a scam. Ultimately if it's not a scam, the police will make further efforts to contact you. There are no consequences to ignoring a voice mail; you're not legally require to answer your phone or check voice mails and phone numbers are often wrong/out of date. If it was important, they would not rely solely on a phone call to contact you (although they might use it as a first port of call since it's the least resources). If you're unavailable by phone, they will turn up. They will always identify themselves and show identification. They would never ask you to call a random private number. I have had to deal with the police a few times at work and when they call they've always been very understanding of us wanting to verify who they are and given the name and station details that I can call back from before speaking to them further. When they visit in person they've always been fine with showing ID and me writing the information down. In one instance I even called the station to verify that that was a valid name and on a valid job and the chap was perfectly understanding of my care.

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DoctorOctagonapus@reddit

I think in this day and age the police would be used to calling people and being called a scammer, or at least they'd have scripts to say "OK, call 101 or google your local police force for the number".

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sixdeadlysins@reddit

It's a scam. The real police wouldn't say an allegatob has been made against you.

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Blaxthos@reddit

If they want you, they’ll come and find you. If they _really_ want you, it’ll be at 3 in the morning. I wouldn’t put much stock in the No Caller ID thing. Yes, the emergency services don’t display their number when they call you but you know who else doesn’t? People on a wind up.

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Nervous-Cream-6256@reddit

If the police from another country need to talk to you they'll do it through the country's police department that you are currently in. A police person from a different country is never going to call you.

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zephyrthewonderdog@reddit

Yes they do. I’ve had it happen a couple of times. If it’s a trivial matter they will try and sort it out over the phone or get you to attend a local station to provide a statement - but the investigating PC will usually make first contact to speak to you.

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hydrophobic-potato@reddit (OP)

County* (area within England)

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Dave8917@reddit

Its scam my friend unsure how it work but it is just ignore, honestly don't worry your self

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goodluckbuttermug@reddit

Calls from the police are usually no caller ID. They should identify themselves and provide you with contact details. Is the allegation true, or feasible, that would help? Call 101 and ask for the named force and then for the named individual. They may provide you an email address . All police emails are usually name.name@policeforcename.police.uk

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One-Significance7853@reddit

If there is an allegation against you, there is no good reason to speak to the police. I am not a lawyer, but any good lawyer will tell you not to speak to the police if they want to interrogate you as a suspect. Either ignore the call or contact a lawyer.

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Burnsy2023@reddit

>If there is an allegation against you, there is no good reason to speak to the police. There's at least one good reason: it gives you an opportunity to arrange an interview at your convenience rather than being arrested at the police's convenience.

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Bedlamcitylimit@reddit

Sounds like a Phishing scam, so go to [https://who-called.co.uk/](https://who-called.co.uk/) and put in the number to make sure It's not perfect, as it's a user build database of scam calls and these scammers change/spoof their numbers constantly, but it is incredible helpful

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Burnsy2023@reddit

>EDIT: The cops NEVER block you from knowing their number You say that with such confidence, but withholding numbers is standard practice in many police forces. All of the desk phones at my station will withhold the number.

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Intelligent-Day-6976@reddit

county ?

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Pvt_Patches@reddit

I've had calls like this before. It's a scam. If it were genuine, they would make more of an effort of contacting you, send official letters etc. They can't convict you for ignoring a phone call from someone you don't know. They would never call because no one would ever answer.

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Tenpumpkin77962@reddit

How can you ring the number back if it’s no caller id?

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Significant-Long6538@reddit

It's a SCAM

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Advanced_Fan2524@reddit

Scam. The police don’t call first

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virgin_goat@reddit

There was a scam,where scammers ring and say calls us back,peeps look up the number and ring it.but the scammers never hung up so peeps are not dialing a number they are just back with the scammers

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Harmoniica@reddit

Ring 101 asking for the force that called you and ask if it was a genuine call.

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SmokingLaddy@reddit

I had police contact me last year and I was called off a normal mobile number, I saved the number on my phone and it is a mobile phone specific to this particular policeman. I’m not sure if there is a set policy nationwide, this was in Gloucestershire Cotswolds.

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Ok-Kitchen2768@reddit

I've had this before, i used to run away from school a lot. Usually when I've been texted by police i can reply to the text and they will call a few times. So i wouldn't rule it as a scam immediately, do like everyone says and ring 101 or the station they said and query it. The fact they didnt leave a number means they probably meant call the station.

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Impossible-Mix1961@reddit

The no caller ID makes me think it’s probably one of your mates playing a prank on you. I remember me and a few mates used to do no id calls to each other all the time trying to get one another. If it was the police they’d have left a number and even if they somehow forgot they’ll call again if they need.

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hhsinensis@reddit

I had the exact same thing happen to me months ago. It was a robot voice and word for word the same situation, it scared me but I thought that police would at least use a real person I also had no reason the police would contact me. I ignored it and nothing came of it. If there’s actually a reason the police would need you I’m sure they’ll call again. I never got another call and have not been arrested lol.

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iliketotalk_alot@reddit

this happened to me yesterday. i asked the station number and he just hung up 😭😭 didn’t bother ringing me back which shows it was just a scam.

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MrSquigles@reddit

There is one rule for any organisation that rings you. "Okay, well, I'm going to find a ohone number on your website and call you back."

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Outrageous-Sea1657@reddit

Ignore it, a favorite quote of mine "If it's important, they will call back".

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LasagneFiend@reddit

Police now call on a discreet number, the same as if you dial 999, it wont show in a call log. Its to help domestic abuse situations, so they dont become dangerous, if the victim has reached out for help.

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SilverBlueLine@reddit

Control Room Staff here 👋 When I call out to people we need to speak to, I usually try to leave a voicemail stating "This is a Message for W, it's X from Y Police Control Room. Please give us a call back on 101 quoting incident Z so we can continue our enquiries". I try to avoid "there's been an allegation" over voicemail cause it can cause unnecessary anxiety and people are less likely to phone back if they think they're in trouble. We would keep trying a reasonable amount of times and advise for them to make contact including maybe sending a text asking to call in. If we had to we can send officers to the last known address on record and talk to you face to face. If you're unsure, call 101. GDPR might limit what we can tell you but we can always task the officer who wants to speak to you to make contact with you.

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Brit-a-Canada@reddit

Honestly, maybe I've been in North America too long, but if the police don't turn up to my house, I'm not gonna call them back for "an allegation made against me". Why would I willing incriminate myself for something I have no idea about?

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Alamahkannagi@reddit

I had a legitimate voicemail from the police because I pocket dialed 999 while driving and they called back to make sure I was ok. They told me to call 101 and they gave me a reference number to quote. If you haven't been told either of these things, it's likely a scam.

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Logical_Summer7689@reddit

Phone 101. It’s that easy.

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JohnLennonsNotDead@reddit

Did they start by saying “allo allo allo”? If not, it’s definitely not the police.

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SamLil01@reddit

It’s likely not a scam in the respect that they do call from an unknown number (from my past experience) and also the fact they haven’t given you a number to call but instead given you the county. However! Don’t forget almost anything COULD be a scam nowadays so just be aware. Bit strange they didn’t leave a name or number - probably best to Google the station and call from there

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ExerciseSad3082@reddit

Sounds like a prank call

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Necessary_Wrap1867@reddit

The police don't contact people with allegations made against them over the phone... Definitely a scam

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wild_cayote@reddit

If you have no knowledge on the subject, don’t bother commenting. The police have been doing this for years.

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Necessary_Wrap1867@reddit

My prior knowledge of the topic comes from it being a popular scam. If the police are trying to get in contact about a serious allegation they are far more likely to do so in person. It is news to me that this occurs in non serious occurrences, but I certainly wasn't trying to spread untrue information

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Loud_Delivery3589@reddit

Your prior knowledge isn't true - if this is an offence outside of the forensic window, with no physical evidence, and a suspect who's no trace, where is the risk in calling them? That they might do a runner (and then promptly just get circulated as wanted once they don't show up for a VA). Often investigation teams only have one car, which has probably been nicked by another unit or is out of fuel. Much easier to just give the person a ring, and arrange a VA, then trek to their address to do a door knock and show out to poor suspects mum that their kid needs nicking if they don't show up

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wild_cayote@reddit

It would be a scam if they said “call me back on this number” but they haven’t given any number to call back on, would be a terrible scam attempt

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starfallpuller@reddit

Stop chatting out your bum, of course the police phone people when they need to contact them.

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47aye@reddit

The police wanted to speak to me about a firearm related incident and were not able to locate me at my address etc and I was called by a Sargeant over the phone from a withheld number. Don't know if it's standard protocol but it definitely happened to me

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ImBonRurgundy@reddit

They absolutely do.

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TurbulentBullfrog829@reddit

I had a call from the police about a motorhome Id left abandoned (broken down) by the side of the road with a note on it saying recovery arranged with my number. The police officer left a mobile number. Poor guy was a bit embarrassed because he'd had a complaint that people might have been illegally camping but the angle we had had to push it in was pretty obvious we weren't. It had only been there 12 hours or so I think. I guess they have to do their jobs and check. I didn't mind at all.

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bossrat2@reddit

I've had a fair amount of dealings with Police Scotland recently. They also use unknown numbers/no caller id numbers to phone. However, they also always text (appearing to be from Police Scotland but that's not difficult to spoof) with my full name, the reason why they're calling, an incident number and date and instructions to phone 101. They also keep calling till they get hold of you. I would phone 101 as they were very helpful the times I phoned them in a panic with no idea what was going on. 101 will also give you the name of the police officer that is trying to contact you. A commenter above said that 101 can't connect you to a local police officer's phone but that's incorrect, at least in Scotland. Best of luck.

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Serious_seriousness@reddit

Call 999 "Hello?" "I'm here to report a crime." "yep.." "An international war crime." "OK.."

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welly_wrangler@reddit

If you don't have the number, you can't call back. Easy

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DazzleBMoney@reddit

Was this a voicemail that was left? Or a direct call? The police aren’t known to leave voicemails when calling from withheld numbers, so it probably isn’t genuine

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hydrophobic-potato@reddit (OP)

Voicmail

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DazzleBMoney@reddit

Yeah I certainly doubt that’s actually the police then, also they wouldn’t go into specific detail on a voicemail as to why they’re calling you. Did they leave a number for you to call back on out of curiosity?

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DazzleBMoney@reddit

No idea why my comment is being downvoted, the police don’t leave voicemails regarding active investigations

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fussdesigner@reddit

Police do leave voicemails all the time. I say this as a police officer who leaves voicemails all the time, and spends all day working with people who also leave voicemails all the time. I think the downvotes are because it's a bit of a weird assertion - like, we're all normal humans, so why wouldn't we be able to record voicemails?

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Lazilycasual@reddit

The police 100% do leave voicemails about investigations, probably why you’re being downvoted

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hydrophobic-potato@reddit (OP)

No they didn’t

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DazzleBMoney@reddit

Most likely not actually from the police then

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wild_cayote@reddit

The police absolutely do this. I was a witness for an assault couple years back and woke up the next morning to 3 missed calls from No Caller ID and a voicemail asking me to call them back to discuss it further

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CrazySim00_@reddit

if it's true and they want you that bad, they'll eventually find you. If not, hooray

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Aleeriater@reddit

If they didn't mention your own name it's just a random call

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bluesam3@reddit

Regardless of whether it's real or not, your best course of action is to call the police and ask. Either it's real, in which case you're talking to the right people to find out what it is, or it's a scam, in which case you're talking to the right people to report the scam.

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BrainiacQuantum@reddit

It's a scam. Do not call back. They will simply obtain lots of your private info.

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FU-dontbanmethistime@reddit

It was a scam. Ignore it.

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Kbradsagain@reddit

Call the local police station. Explain the call you received. If there is anything on record for you,they will know

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ratherbefuddled@reddit

It's not a scam, at least it isn't on its own because there's no way for the perpetrator to benefit. It's most likely a prank. It's definitely not legit.

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WWMRD2016@reddit

Sounds like a scam to me. Police officers I've dealt with leave me their mobile number to call them back.

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DrachenDad@reddit

There wasn't a reference number? That is likely a scam. Call 101 (non emergency) and tell them what happened. Was it an ex-directory number? If so it really sounds like a scam.

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Indigo-Waterfall@reddit

Call your local police department and ask them. (not 999) My local one has an online chat for non emergencies.

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No_Collection2126@reddit

If they want to speak to you, they'll come out to your house - and leave a calling card if you don't answer the door.

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DeviousBeevious@reddit

You can just ignore it. You are under no obligation to return such a call. If this is the police and if the police want to speak to you they'll either call again, send you a letter or turn up at your door. depends on how serious the matter is. most likely you'll never head from them again.

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girlwithagreenstare@reddit

I had something similar happen. Had a voicemail - ‘hi I’m PC so and so calling from This Police station, can you get in contact.’ No number left. I called 101 and they couldn’t help much so I called my local station- they took my name after I explained and informed me there was nothing with my name anywhere. I don’t know the gain, as all it did was give me major anxiety for a while- but I’d ignore it or call your local station for piece of mind.

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BobbyB52@reddit

Just to add a bit of useful context- I am an HM Coastguard officer and if the coastguard calls you from our terminals it will display a “No Caller ID” legend on your phone screen. It is the same for all four emergency services as I understand it. So while the general advice about not answering your phone to those without caller ID is usually sound, please bear in mind that if you have recently called an emergency service, please do listen to that voicemail/pick up the call as it is likely us trying to get hold of you.

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DiscardedKebab@reddit

In my younger days, I got into a bit of trouble and was phoned by the police asking me to come in for an interview. I'm not saying it's definitely genuine but I wouldn't be convinced by the people saying it's 100% a scam either. Contact the police and check

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ahoneybadger3@reddit

Yeah I've been called by another county's police and had to go meet them 3 times as the first two times I drove the 200 mile round trip they were too busy on the night.

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Tlou3please@reddit

No caller ID is typical. Don't phone back to a given number, phone 101 and tell them.

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HumanHuman_2003@reddit

Call 101 and ask them, it seems a bit weird the caller didn’t leave a name or anything

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-TheJackOfSpades-@reddit

It's most likely a scam but if it were real you don't want to incriminate yourself accidentally. Ignore it. If they had anything on you, you'd already be in cuffs.

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dinkidoo7693@reddit

When the police last contacted me I was at work on the voicemail they said who they were and why they were calling and how to contact them back. I'd ring 101 and explain the situation. If it's a scam they will be able to tell you, if it's not they should be able to put you through to the right people

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Al-Calavicci@reddit

Probably a premium rate number scam.

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wild_cayote@reddit

Without giving them a number to call?

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Al-Calavicci@reddit

That’s a good point 😂

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jasperfilofax@reddit

100% a scam, if your in trouble they’ll come find you

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wild_cayote@reddit

Pretty shit scam not leaving a number and using no caller ID so you can’t even call back

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SnooBooks1701@reddit

Call the police station and ask

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andreeeeeaaaaaaaaa@reddit

1000000% a scam. If you ring back they will most probably ask you to pay a fee in gift cards

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Normal-Basis9743@reddit

Scam. Don’t call back. If it’s important, they will come pay you a visit.

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Chilton_Squid@reddit

It's a scam. If they wanted to contact you they'd drive to your house.

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ImBonRurgundy@reddit

Not true. Police will call people very often for this sort of thing, especially minor offences.

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Chilton_Squid@reddit

But they'd be very clear who they were, their name, the force, number to return the call on etc. You wouldn't be in any doubt, you'd just call it back and check.

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ImBonRurgundy@reddit

Yes that is correct, but they absolutely do call and do leave messages.

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Chilton_Squid@reddit

Yes, but that message would not be "Hi I’m calling on behalf of (county name) police about an allegation made against you, please call us back". It would be very clear who it was and what they needed done and how to contact them.

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ImBonRurgundy@reddit

Yes I think we have established that already. A legit call from the police would have more info. But claiming that police do not call people is plain wrong.

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jackal3004@reddit

This is objectively wrong.

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CliffyGiro@reddit

Sounds more legit than scammy. They’ll call again or you can ring 101. Just because you haven’t committed any crimes that doesn’t mean someone didn’t allege that you did.

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starfallpuller@reddit

Sounds pretty normal and real. Just call the police and see what they want?

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thatlad@reddit

in general I would never call back a phone number that has been provided. Always check the company website and call that number back instead

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RBXXIII@reddit

The obvious thing to do would be to google the number or your counties police force and call them? That would clear things up for you immediately.

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wayneio@reddit

I know people who have had this happen. It's not necessarily a scam but most likely such a minor crime they find it easier to call than turn up at your door

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Ok_Idea_8986@reddit

As a general rule, if someone doesn't use your name, it's a scam.

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