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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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