Scumbags Phoning Valcartier Homes to Announce Deaths of Troops Overseas

[The Bread Guy]

I really, really can't say how pissed off I am at this.....

Quebec military police are after a prankster preying on families of soldiers deployed to Afghanistan by calling them in the middle of the night to say their loved one has died.

The relatives of at least three soldiers currently serving in the war-torn country have been targeted by the prank, a spokesman at Canadian Forces Base Valcartier said Tuesday.

The wife of one soldier filed a complaint with military police after she received a prank phone call last week to say her husband had died in a roadside bomb explosion. "It's a shame and we're taking this very seriously," Alex Maille said.

He stressed the military never delivers such bad news on the phone but always in person, and urged other victims to lodge a complaint to help put an end to the hoax.

To ensure the families of soldiers on their first tour of duty in Afghanistan are aware of the military protocol in the event of critical incidents, CFB Valcartier's deployment support group will send a letter outlining the procedure.

Meanwhile, CFB Valcartier's family centre is offering counselling and information to those who are worried about falling prey to the fraudster.

The Defence Department said the prank is not something it has ever dealt with before.

"We are not aware of other similar incidents," said DND spokesman Maj. Martell Thompson.

He said the Forces are baffled someone is showing so little respect for the families of soldiers fighting in Afghanistan.

"It's pretty low. I can think of a lot of things one can do to voice their discontent with the mission and this would not have made my list of what people would do," he said. "This does not fit into what a normal human being would do to another." ....

:rage:

Is it just me, or (at least from media reports) are troop families in/around Valcartier easier to spot/target than elsewhere?  Remember these clowns, for example?  Or is it just the level of opposition to the mission (if one believes the polls) that may be driving this?

Counting to ten....

 

[Occam]

I have one bit of advice to those who have loved ones deployed - learn how to activate your local telephone company's "Call Trace" feature.  Some Telcos charge for it, some don't.  It works whether the caller has their number blocked or not.  The way it works is that you dial a code which tells the Telco's system to "mark" the last call made to your telephone, and the police can request these records from the phone company.

How to use it - some nutcase calls you, you recognize it as a prank or harassing call, and you hang up.  You immediately call your Telco's Call Trace code - for example, for Bell Canada it's "*57" - don't call another number, or use another calling feature such as Call Return before activating Call Trace.  Then note the time and date of the call, and report it to the police along with the fact that you activated Call Trace on the call.

I'm sure the police would be very enthusiastic about prosecuting any scumbag making calls like the ones reported here.

 

[mariomike]

Similar story from the U.K. in 2006
"Army wives get phone death threats from Iraq":
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iraq/1522277/Army-wives-get-phone-death-threats-from-Iraq.html

Also in the U.S.:
http://www.ng.mil/news/archives/2010/04/042810-Hoax.aspx

 

[57Chevy]

That is just plain sick.
They NEED to get nailed.....and quickly

BTW *69 also does something regarding the last caller.

 

[Occam]

That is just plain sick.
They NEED to get nailed.....and quickly

BTW *69 also does something regarding the last caller.

Yup, *69 is Call Return in most Telcos - and is useless if the police need to investigate complaints.  Call Trace is the action to take to catch these idiots.

 

[dogger1936]

Excellent tip. Thanks.

 

[larry Strong]

That is just plain sick.
They NEED to get nailed.....and quickly

BTW *69 also does something regarding the last caller.

Unfortunately all they will probably get is a slight slap om the wrist and sent home......

 

[VinceW]

Not surprised that the media reports these as "Pranks"
Pranks are harmless and don't cause depression and sleep disorders.

 

[OldSolduer]

The "prankster" requires "counselling". Maybe the parents or a a spouse of a fallen soldier should be there to speak with the "Prankster" after his "Counselliing".....nudge nudge wink wink.

 

[Navalsnpr]

I hope the Police get this person quickly!! 

 

[The Bread Guy]

Not surprised that the media reports these as "Pranks"
Pranks are harmless and don't cause depression and sleep disorders.

Good point - still happening:

A prankster's calls to military families with news that their loved ones have been killed in Afghanistan are being castigated as "insensitive, amoral and disgusting."

The Canadian military is investigating.

A spokesman for Quebec's CFB Valcartier says a prankster phoned several families, including one soldier's wife to say her husband had been killed by a bomb on the battlefield.

Defence Minister Peter MacKay called such crank calls "despicable."

"Military personnel should not be needlessly worried about their families when they are fighting for our country in far away lands," MacKay said Wednesday in a statement.

"Military families, who also make incredible sacrifices in Canada's name, should never be the target of such an insensitive, amoral and disgusting act."

Lt. Dennis Noel of CFB Valcartier said one woman answered the call in the middle of the night last week.

"She received a prank call saying that her husband was killed in Afghanistan by an IED (improvised explosive device)," he said ....

If the spokesperson is being quoted properly, it might be time to fine tune the messaging a bit from that end?  Then again, I don't know whether the French equivalent of "prank" (assuming French is first language in Valcartier area) is a much stronger term that only weakly translates into the English term.

 

[Danjanou]

Unfortunately all they will probably get is a slight slap om the wrist and sent home......

More than likely yes. However after beeing caught their names etc are then public  and available for someone to "counsel" them as has been suggested. >

Note: I am not  in any way shape or form advocationg any activity outside of the law here.

 

[Jarnhamar]

And where do these assholes get a lot of their information about deployed soldiers?

Facebook.

 

[MPwannabe]

That is disgusting. They'll find the people responsible and charge them eventually.

 

[The Bread Guy]

And where do these assholes get a lot of their information about deployed soldiers?

Facebook.

Good point, at least with some of the info - in addition to the phone advice offered earlier, let's also keep this in mind
http://forums.milnet.ca/forums/threads/71137/post-678628.html#msg678628

 

[xena]

I hope the Police get this person quickly!!

Actually, I kinda hope they get caught by some serving or ex-military personnel first.  > :rage:

But I'm with Danjanou on this:

Note: I am not  in any way shape or form advocating any activity outside of the law here.

 

[jollyjacktar]

The "prankster" requires "counselling". Maybe the parents or a a spouse of a fallen soldier should be there to speak with the "Prankster" after his "Counselliing".....nudge nudge wink wink.

And here I thought you might have suggested some more "vigorous mineral therapy"  > 

It's some anti-warmonger for sure that seems to populate that Province in great herds.  Hope they get caught and hit as hard as the law allows.  Friggin Zombies

 

[The Bread Guy]

It's some anti-warmonger for sure that seems to populate that Province in great herds.  Hope they get caught and hit as hard as the law allows.  Friggin Zombies

So far, we don't know that for certain, so I'm not going to go as far as picking a guilty party yet.

That said, if the guilty party does happen to be doing this as an anti-war "action", I will be anxious to hear from anti-war groups/collectives disavow such actions.  Disagree all you want with the fight, but this is NOT a legitimate "protest" tactic.

Edited to add:
Meanwhile, here's what was said on this in the House of Commons yesterday:

Mr. Steven Blaney (Lévis—Bellechasse, CPC):  Mr. Steven Blaney (Lévis—Bellechasse, CPC):  Mr. Speaker, a number of families in Valcartier with loved ones in Afghanistan have been the victims of a disturbing incident. During the night, heartless pranksters told them that their loved ones had been killed in Afghanistan. Such calls are despicable and, understandably, have caused these families deep dismay and needless worry and anxiety.  Can the Minister of National Defence tell us what he will do about these heartless pranksters and how people who believe that tragic accidents are something to joke about will be dealt with?

Hon. Peter MacKay (Minister of National Defence, CPC):  Mr. Speaker, these acts are deplorable and completely unacceptable. I am convinced that I speak on behalf of all members of the House when I condemn this despicable behaviour. The Canadian Forces are helping and supporting the families who have received these disturbing calls. It is our hope that the perpetrators of these despicable acts will be brought to justice as quickly as possible.  <English>  Military personnel should never be cruelly alarmed while their loved ones are serving overseas. They make an incredible sacrifice in our country's name. They should never be the targets of such insensitive, immoral, disgusting acts.

 

[Pusser]

One thing I find puzzling is that the CF is claiming they've never seen this sort of thing before.  However, I distinctly remember hearing reports of it happening during the first Gulf War and early on in the second.  It's still despicable, but it's not new.

 

[2 Cdo]

One thing I find puzzling is that the CF is claiming they've never seen this sort of thing before.  However, I distinctly remember hearing reports of it happening during the first Gulf War and early on in the second.  It's still despicable, but it's not new.

It's been happening since before I joined in 81, absolutlely nothing new. A disgusting act which probably involves one of our stellar citizens whos idea of free speech exists only for those who agree with them.