JEDDAH – A new phone application that can be used to search for any cellphone number has turned life into hell for some families who are being abused by strangers. Numberbook has caused a lot of problems for some married women, including threats of divorce, loss of children's custody and eviction from homes. Soad, a Saudi wife, almost got into serious trouble because of Numberbook when a young man got her cellphone number and name through the application and started harassing her with text messages. Then he started sending her husband messages saying that he knew Soad. Her husband went ballistic and started questioning her. She said: “We've had several arguments and fights over these messages. “My husband and I didn't know anything about this application until my brother-in-law explained to us what the Numberbook application could do.” Soad said some Saudis tend to abuse new applications and use them the wrong way. She suffered a lot in her marital life because of this, she added. She wondered why some Saudi young men and women do this sort of thing and how they would benefit from destroying someone else's marital life. Soad had to change her cellphone number several times to avoid problems and harassment. Anoud, who is in high school, had a similar experience and was embarrassed when her father and brother received calls from a stranger asking about her. They wondered how he got her name and cellphone number and her father assumed that she was in a relationship with the young man. However, when she explained to him the stranger had gotten her cellphone number through Numberbook, her father calmed down and asked her to change her number, which she did. She was really embarrassed as her friends and relatives found out as well. Nouran, a college girl, was surprised when she received text messages from a strange phone number and the sender used her nickname, which only her friends knew. In the beginning, she thought that some of her female friends were teasing her. But the phone calls and text messages became frequent and Nouran did not know what to do until one of her friends told her about Numberbook and she realized what was going on. Khalid Al-Harbi, in his 40s, faced similar problems that could have led to him divorcing his wife. He received several obscene text messages from a strange number and his wife read them and started accusing him of having an affair. Although they have been together for 26 years, their marriage could have ended had it not been for one of his friends who explained to him what Numberbook could do.
