UPDATED: Stonington police investigating repeated late night phone calls

Stonington - If you received numerous phone calls last night that resulted in a hang up, then you are not alone.

Stonington police said numerous residents have complained about receiving phone calls that would abruptly end when they would pick up.

Police said the calls do not seem to be directed to individual targets.

Capt. Jerry Desmond said he has received hundreds of complaints from residents. It seems that almost every part of town has been affected.

Desmond said it appears the calls are being made from an automated system. While the phone number appears to be Wyoming-based, that doesn't mean that the calls are originating from there, he said.

The practice of masking a telephone number, called "caller id spoofing," is done when a recipient's caller id display shows a number that is not of the actual originating station.

He said the number appears to come from overseas. Desmond said he has spoken to various telecommunication and information technology companies and has managed to block that phone number.

"We are working hard on this," said Desmond. "We are trying to prevent this from happening again."

Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said his office is also looking into the problem and called the mass calling "unprecedented" because so many people were affected.

He also added that his office would provide any assistance local authorities if needed.