Anonymous calls can be stressful to receive, especially if they come frequently. You wonder who is troubling you whenever you get an incoming call from an unknown number. If it persists, it’s an anxiety-provoking feeling.
If you’ve experienced the discomfort of this, don’t worry – you’re not alone.
Also known as blocked or restricted, anonymous calls are calls without caller ID, whose details have been concealed by the caller.
If you can’t see the number, how can reverse phone lookup be possible? In fact, it is. Let’s look at some details before we get to that.
Typically, people with an iPhone will see the message “No Caller ID” when they get an anonymous call. Other platforms send different messages. You block your ID by dialing *67 before calling. This process is usually how such calls are placed.
So, Who’s Calling?
It might be a telemarketer, someone you know who’s pulling a prank, or a malicious entity. As telemarketers conduct marketing illegally, they block their numbers, so they’re not reported.
A criminal might be calling from a blocked or spoofed number in an effort to steal your information or money.
It Might be a Scammer: the Most Common Scams
According to a list published by the FTC, typical scams involve lottery winnings, owing taxes, or losing money in a scam. The first rule of dealing with anonymous calls is to never pick up – you protect yourself this way.
If you do pick up, this is how typical scams play out. Someone will tell you you’ve won a lottery, but you need to make a payment to get your winnings.
You might hear that you have to pay a debt, a fine, or a penalty for your assets to be unfrozen.
Alternatively, the caller will claim you have lost money in a scam, and they can help you get it back or that you owe back taxes or immigration fees.
You should report the call to the FTC in this case. Hang up and record details, like the date and time of the call.
How to Identify a Mysterious Caller
You can’t hide your number from a toll-free number or an emergency phone one. Toll-free numbers start with 0800 or 1-800. A caller can’t hide their number because they must pay for their call to the toll-free one. For that to happen, the phone company should be able to identify the source of the charges.
So, pick up and reroute the call to a toll-free number to see who’s calling. This way, you will capture the ID. Then, make another redirect, linking the source to the number, which is no longer hidden.
How to Block Restricted Numbers
If you’re on Android, tap the three-dot icon on the app in the right corner at the top. Select ‘Block numbers’ under Settings. iPhone users must go to Recents and tap ‘I’ by the number they don’t want to get any calls from. Then, go to ‘Block Caller’ at the bottom of the screen.
Benefits of Services Like Trap Call
Some automated services can reveal hidden numbers, such as Trap Call, which will show the number behind an anonymous call. It will also give you an associated name and maybe even a mailing address.
Trap Call also allows users to block numbers they don’t want to get calls from anymore. If the person calls you after you’ve activated this function, they will hear that your number “has been disconnected or is no longer in service.”
Trap Call and other automated services also offer incoming call recording, reverse phone number lookup, and spam call blocking.
Finally, it might be possible to trace calls by dialing *57. Entering this code records the number as unwanted in the phone service’s database.