Is there no end to how low creepers will go?

[daisylu]

It never crossed my mind that I might have to worry about this:

A dog owner shared a “next level creepy” text from a stranger on Reddit, where they asked the owner out and admitted they got the phone number off of their dog’s collar.


The stranger had texted them, saying that they picked up their number after petting their dog and looking at the collar. When the Redditor didn’t reply, the stranger followed up with “Hello?” and then “Why do you even have your number on her collar if you don’t want people to text you? What the f***? Such a tease.”



Clearly, the stranger has a vital misunderstanding of the purpose of putting a phone number on a pet’s collar — it’s in case the pet goes missing, and the owner can be contacted.




One commenter took a moment to issue a larger warning about other people doing this with pets, especially if there’s a phone number or address on a dog’s collar.



“This is a huge deal,” they wrote. “Some men will memorize your address and phone number … If you’re getting bad vibes or they’re looking at your dog’s collar for a bit too long, you need to leave.”



link


Feel free to share your creepiest creeper story.

[chiver78]

sadly, I'm not surprised. I didn't put my address on my dogs' tags, just my phone number and a note that says "I'm Microchipped!" hard pass on having the address out there. 

[Deleted]

I read of one guy who thought a woman he saw entering the parking lot was attractive.  He got her address off mail addressed to her sitting in the passenger seat after she parked the car.

This isn't a "creepy stranger" story but I was in a relationship with a very needy guy when I was waiting for results from my most recent actuarial exam.  No Internet (1980) so you had to wait for the mail.  I was a wreck- results usually arrived around July 4 and days later still no results.  I was about to leave on vacation with family- cabin in the woods in PA, no phone.  I told the secretary that if BF called and wanted the results she could open them and tell him.  I told both of them to leave me alone- I just wanted to relax and forget about it.  

I couldn't, of course- I called the secretary July 15 from a pay phone and asked her if the results were in.  They were and I'd passed.   I got back to the cabin and found a note- BF had remembered the name of the state park where the cabins were located, called Directory Assistance, gone through possibilities with a very helpful operator until she came up with the name of the family owning the cabins.  He recognized the name, called their office and had them deliver a message that I passed up to our cabin.

I was pi**ed.  Even my mother, who really didn't like BF, couldn't understand why.  It just felt like he'd tracked me down to "my" territory when I wanted to be left alone. 

[swamp]

I play Words with Friends, the online scrabble game. It’s full of creepers and guys get pissed off when you don’t want to chat

[chiver78]

that's a lot of why I stopped playing, actually. 

[wvugurl26]

I only ever played with people I knew. And I even quit that. I had some random people try to start games and chat and I was like nope.

[haapai]

Some of what you are calling creepy was absolutely standard operating procedure when I was a kid.  I spent ten years of my childhood in places that either did not have phones, or had few phones, or had a few phones that were shared by many people.  The skills that we developed in order to pass messages along are considered violations now. 

I don't know what to make of this.  I remember a time when businesses in the third world put the names of most employees on a board in their lobby and guesthouses published their guest list so that messages could be passed through the desk clerk.  People freely shared where they lived, where they worked, and who their neighbors were just so you could contact them if needed.  It was also bog standard to hold onto every single phone number that you were ever given just in case it ever came in handy. 

Even in the US, it was pretty standard throughout my childhood to pass messages to people who were not home, or whose phone number you did not know, or could not find, through the neighbors whose numbers you knew.  I definitely remember my grandparents having paper and a pencil mounted outside their kitchen door so that folks who stopped by when they were not home could leave a message.  May I remind you that before we could leave messages with answering machines, or voice mail, or send e-mail, leaving such a messages was good form. 

I am unwilling to completely abandon these message-delivering methods that I learned as a kid and accept that if I don't have someone's number, I should not even attempt to get a message through when I certainly know how to do it. 

[Deleted]

Aug 3, 2021 18:24:42 GMT -5 haapai said:

I don't know what to make of this.  I remember a time when businesses in the third world put the names of most employees on a board in their lobby and guesthouses published their guest list so that messages could be passed through the desk clerk.  People freely shared where they lived, where they worked, and who their neighbors were just so you could contact them if needed.  It was also bog standard to hold onto every single phone number that you were ever given just in case it ever came in handy. 

My friend was a project manager for a large contractor (Foster Wheeler) and he prided himself on being able to track down any field engineer, anywhere.  That was a necessary part of his job.  It's something else to use those skills to contact someone whom you know (or should know) doesn't want to be contacted.

[Deleted]

It’s an unspoken rule among my coworkers that we don’t give out each other’s phone numbers.

Say I need or want to tell Amy something and I know Mary probably has her phone number. Mary won’t give me Amy’s phone number, but she’ll call Amy and tell her I need/want to talk to her about something or ask her something or whatever, and give Amy MY phone number. It’s still up to Amy to call me or not.

I like how that works, because I don’t want people sharing my phone number with random people that I might not want to have it either. There are a lot of nuts at my job. But I handle situations the same way outside of my job. I don’t share anyone’s phone number. I’ll pass along a message and let them decide whether they want to talk to you or not.

[happyhoix]

Years back there was a woman working in our office who was sleeping her way to the top (she bragged about it to me). She was having an affair with a regional manager who was not over our region, so they had no business reason to be traveling together, but both came up with reasons to cross paths while traveling so they could spend the night at a hotel together at least once a month. 

After getting back to work after one of these meet ups, a fax came through that had a hand written scrawl saying ‘You’re cheating on your husband’ and her name. I guess someone at the hotel was trying to out her to her coworkers. Certainly upset my coworker (who wouldn’t be) and she made a complaint to the hotel but I don’t think they could figure out who did it. Very creepy. 

[nidena]

Aug 3, 2021 19:24:22 GMT -5 @pinkcshmere said:

It’s an unspoken rule among my coworkers that we don’t give out each other’s phone numbers.

Say I need or want to tell Amy something and I know Mary probably has her phone number. Mary won’t give me Amy’s phone number, but she’ll call Amy and tell her I need/want to talk to her about something or ask her something or whatever, and give Amy MY phone number. It’s still up to Amy to call me or not.

I like how that works, because I don’t want people sharing my phone number with random people that I might not want to have it either. There are a lot of nuts at my job. But I handle situations the same way outside of my job. I don’t share anyone’s phone number. I’ll pass along a message and let them decide whether they want to talk to you or not.

That's a rule that my mama raised us with.

As for information trackdowns...

While on vacay six states away, my boss needed to know the name of the dealership where he bought his truck because it needed warranty work.  His title is stored in his office.  I used it to call Ford motor company to see if they had the dealership associated with the VIN.  They didn't but, when I told them I had the old license # for the state of Ohio, they suggested I call the BMV (DMV) there to see if they could tell me.  I did.  Didn't even have to be put on hold.  The guy looked it up and was able to give me the name of the dealership.  Then I googled the phone number for my boss and texted him the info.  All this took less than two hours time.  

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

It's one thing to have my neighbor pass on a message to me if I can't be reached by phone or email. I know my neighbor. I know the person whose message they are relaying.

Quite another to have a dude I don't know text me and harass me for a date because he saw my number on my dog's collar.

How anyone can conflate the two amazes me. Not sure how not wanting to be stalked translates to the breaking down of communication.

[swamp]

Aug 3, 2021 18:24:42 GMT -5 haapai said:

Some of what you are calling creepy was absolutely standard operating procedure when I was a kid.  I spent ten years of my childhood in places that either did not have phones, or had few phones, or had a few phones that were shared by many people.  The skills that we developed in order to pass messages along are considered violations now. 

I don't know what to make of this.  I remember a time when businesses in the third world put the names of most employees on a board in their lobby and guesthouses published their guest list so that messages could be passed through the desk clerk.  People freely shared where they lived, where they worked, and who their neighbors were just so you could contact them if needed.  It was also bog standard to hold onto every single phone number that you were ever given just in case it ever came in handy. 

Even in the US, it was pretty standard throughout my childhood to pass messages to people who were not home, or whose phone number you did not know, or could not find, through the neighbors whose numbers you knew.  I definitely remember my grandparents having paper and a pencil mounted outside their kitchen door so that folks who stopped by when they were not home could leave a message.  May I remind you that before we could leave messages with answering machines, or voice mail, or send e-mail, leaving such a messages was good form. 

I am unwilling to completely abandon these message-delivering methods that I learned as a kid and accept that if I don't have someone's number, I should not even attempt to get a message through when I certainly know how to do it. 

You don’t see the difference?

I’ve got no problem I’d a friend of a friend passes a message to me. I’ve got a huge problem with a guy hitting on me while I play Words with friends.

Or a stranger getting my number from my dog, who by the way would not agree to do so if she could talk. She’s got my back.

[garion2003]

Aug 3, 2021 18:01:04 GMT -5 wvugurl26 said:

I only ever played with people I knew. And I even quit that. I had some random people try to start games and chat and I was like nope.

I agree, I play with a few friends from real life. When someone I don't know wants to start a game, I just decline it!

[Opti]

Aug 3, 2021 19:46:50 GMT -5 happyhoix said:

Years back there was a woman working in our office who was sleeping her way to the top (she bragged about it to me). She was having an affair with a regional manager who was not over our region, so they had no business reason to be traveling together, but both came up with reasons to cross paths while traveling so they could spend the night at a hotel together at least once a month. 

After getting back to work after one of these meet ups, a fax came through that had a hand written scrawl saying ‘You’re cheating on your husband’ and her name. I guess someone at the hotel was trying to out her to her coworkers. Certainly upset my coworker (who wouldn’t be) and she made a complaint to the hotel but I don’t think they could figure out who did it. Very creepy. 

That is very creepy. Especially since I would guess a similar fax was not sent to his workplace. I wonder if any of his wife's friends worked there.

[Rukh O'Rorke]

Aug 3, 2021 17:29:05 GMT -5 chiver78 said:

that's a lot of why I stopped playing, actually. 

oooo I love scrabble! too bad about the creepers.