Do you answer calls from private number on your mobile?

Hi,

I have had the Gardai call me a few times on my mobile in the last few weeks (during the night/early morning) and they always ring from a "private" number. I used to be wary answering calls showing private but from now on I always will. Calling back is not a great option in some cases as you don't always get the person you are looking for instantly.

I have had burgularies in my business premises and the last call was from Gardai -who had actually managed to trap the guy inside.

He still managed to escape though

Armada said:

I have had the Gardai call me a few times on my mobile in the last few weeks (during the night/early morning) and they always ring from a "private" number.

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Not always. I've had calls from some of the Dublin stations (Terenure, Rathmines) with caller id showing one of the station numbers.

I don't answer the house phone unless I recognise the number/name on the caller display. I tend not to answer my mobile if it's showing a private number but it depends on my mood mostly. I show my mobile number if I call someone but not the house phone, cept to a couple of people I know who won't answer a "private" call!

I am surprised to read that most people don't answer private numbers, I rarely look at my phone before I answer it. A lot of calls to me come from offices that go through inhouse networks and i think these are mostly come up as "private no". Whats the harm in answering the phone? whats the worse that could happen? Have we all gone mad with parnoia? and finally what did we do in the days before caller i.d on land lines?

AFAIK the Gardai when calling from the station use the number comes up but when they are calling from mobiles the number doesn't come up.

When at home the only time I answer a private number is by arrangement (ie some one calls me on the mobile then to save money I'll tell them to call me at home).

Personally I think anybody who hides their number has something to hide and I never totally trust them

I don't think its paranoia. In my case, and it seems a few people are finding it similar, it's usually someone trying to sell you something you don't want - GAP insurance from the car, pension or policy from the Bank, mobile phone provider, etc.

When they dont leave a message, it is more than likely a sales call from a call centre. When I was in Australia in January, someone kept calling my phone at night down there(day here) and waking me up and not leaving a message. Obviously, no numbers came up at all, everything was coming in as call, so me thinking something was wrong at home started calling all the family. It hapened 3 nights on the trot. I answered on the third time because I was awake waiting at this stage only to find it SKY tv trying to sell me a package. Most annoying.

DavyJones said:

Whats the harm in answering the phone? whats the worse that could happen? Have we all gone mad with parnoia? and finally what did we do in the days before caller i.d on land lines?

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The only calls I will ALWAYS answer are any that come up from whoever is taking care of my children while I am away from them, ie their school. In meetings I keep my phone on silent and where I can see it for this reason. Everyone who knows me (well) knows my phone is usually off at the weekend and evenings unless I'm working.

I hide my home number because I don't want cold calls. I only have that phone so I can get the internet.

As far as I'm concerned my phone is there for my convenience, if I didn't have children, I would have got rid of the mobile once the novelty of being totally reachable had worn off .