Unraveling the Mystery: Help Needed to Solve an Office Sabotage Case

In a bizarre turn of events, the phones at my workplace have come under relentless assault from what seems to be a sketchy dating service. This issue has persisted for the past year, and we have strong suspicions that a certain coworker is behind it. Despite our efforts to seek assistance from AT&T, we have hit a wall. Now, I’m turning to the wider community for insights and advice, as we find ourselves on the brink of despair.

I am contemplating leaving this job due to the toxic atmosphere fostered by what appears to be an employee with malicious intent. Our situation is particularly ironic—given that we work at a law firm, the perpetrator could face serious legal repercussions if caught. Nevertheless, the management refuses to acknowledge the gravity of the situation, which is incredibly frustrating.

The Situation at Hand

The office is equipped with outdated phones from a company called Comdial (now known as Zeracom), with AT&T providing our telephone services. We handle six lines, with our primary contact number being the most crucial. Unfortunately, unwanted calls to a dubious dating service occur frequently—sometimes multiple times each day. Just today, I had to intervene and manually unforward the lines on four separate occasions, using either *73 or 73#. The incoming calls consist of an impersonal recording accompanied by music, leading us to question the legitimacy of the service.

What adds to the complexity of this issue is the insight provided by multiple professionals, both from AT&T and the phone manufacturers. They have unequivocally stated that the forwarding issue can only be manipulated from within the office, indicating that someone is internally sabotaging our communication lines. Yet, despite these revelations, our management remains skeptical and has even suggested switching to a different service provider—ignoring the more pressing issue of possible internal misconduct.

Unpacking the Mystery

The prime suspect in this scenario happens to be a longstanding employee who previously held my position and is intimately familiar with our phone systems and their passwords. This colleague, as it stands, has made it clear that her affinity for pranking extends even to her personal life. My own mother, who serves as our accountant, and I share mutual trust in this matter.

Frustratingly, we lack caller ID and have found that the *69 function is unreliable, often delivering outdated information. Despite efforts to have AT&T disable our call forwarding option from their end