How to Find Out an Unknown Caller’s Number: 5 Methods
Barbara Thompson
Typically, you can see the caller ID number or name of the person calling when receiving a phone call. This information gives you a moment to prepare for the conversation. However, sometimes, you may see “Unknown Number” come across the screen, and you aren’t sure how to react.
While you’ll find that it’s a telemarketer, other times, the caller may hang up as you answer. Deciphering who the caller is becomes even more important in that situation. In this article, we help you find out how to see an unknown number for these specific circumstances. Read more…
Method 1: Use a 3rd-Party App to Trace Unknown Numbers Calling
If you find that you aren’t having luck with the methods that we describe above, there are a few applications that you can turn to for assistance.
1) Intelius
Intelius is an application where members can pay a fee to receive unlimited access to public records. With Intelius, you can search by reverse phone and look up to find out more information about who owns the phone number, where they live, and who they have for a phone service provider.
Name Search: Yes
Reverse Phone Lookup: Yes
Reverse Address Lookup: Yes
Free Trial: 6-day trial at $0.95
Features:
- Access owner details, including full names, known aliases, and possibly photos with a phone number
- Owner histories provide current and past names and addresses
- Additional contact information includes alternate contact forms, like email
- Location history provides other people associated with a phone number and relatives of current owners
- Social media profiles comb social media platforms linked to the phone number, including Facebook and LinkedIn
6-day trial at $0.95
2) Spokeo
Spokeo is a reverse phone look app that lets you look up any person’s information, but only what’s available via public access sites. This platform pulls information from multiple sources, meaning you could find everything from phone numbers to educational backgrounds. You must become a Spokeo member to access any of its features.
Name Search: Yes
Reverse Phone Lookup: Yes
Reverse Address Lookup: Yes
Free Trial: Basic Search Results are Free
Features:
- Find out whose phone number is calling you.
- Identify scam callers.
- Figure out who’s been texting your significant other.
- Discover whose been harassing you with calls and texts.
- Catch a catfish and scope out potential dates.
- Verify the identities of online sellers, like those you encounter on Craigslist.
- Upgraded accounts can access background reports for phone numbers, including criminal records and a person’s family tree.
Basic Search Results Free
3) Truecaller
With Truecaller, you get an app that helps you to monitor the calls that come into your phone before you answer them. If a number isn’t on your contact list, Truecaller intercepts the call and ask the person a few questions to verify that they are a legitimate call.
Features:
- Puts users in charge of who reaches them with permission-based contacts.
- Truecaller will forward it to you for your review when someone calls and provides their name and other information.
- It is a user-friendly app that anybody can use to identify who call me from this phone number
- Requires no effort on your part, the system identifies people calling or texting you and alerts you.
Link: https://www.truecaller.com/us
Method 2: Dialing *69 to Trace the Unknown Number
Dialing *69 on a landline isn’t new, but it is still essential today, and you can use it when you get a call with an unknown caller’s number or find out number(no) caller ID. Even if the person hangs up or you don’t want to pick up, you can dial *69 after the call is done, and it will connect you to the number that just called you.
While this move won’t give you the person’s exact number, it will reconnect you to them. You can then inquire why they called and try to gather insight into the person and his/her purpose.
Method 3: Dialing *57 to Track an Unknown Caller ID number
Those who routinely receive harassing phone calls or those from unknown numbers that continually hang up without talking might appreciate the *57 option.
When you dial *57, your phone will call back the number that just called you, similar to *69. The *57 feature lets the phone company track the last number that called you and record all relevant metadata. Authorities can use this archive of information if they need the records for legal cases.
However, you need to record the date and time that you select *57. However, if this information is lacking, it might delay your report.
Method 4: Contact Your Phone Company to Trace Unknown Number
A simple solution to obtaining the mystery phone number is to call your service plan provider for your phone. Most often, they can reveal the unknown number that called you with a few simple searches on their end. The representative acts as an anonymous caller ID service.
You can also get a full list of every number that has called you in a set period, whether their ID was blocked or not. Your company might also be able to assist you with additional measures you can take, such as blocking certain numbers so they cannot call you again.
It’s worth noting that the company may impose a charge for this service. While they may not, in some cases finding out the source of an anonymous caller can go beyond the scope of your plan.
Method 5: Report Scam Calls to the FTC
Once you discover that a call is coming from a telemarketer, you can report them to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). You can perform this action online on the government website by entering the pertinent information.
The FTC highly monitors scam calls, and they rely on citizen reports to track current trends and offenders. By sharing your information, you are helping to end the act of undesired telemarketing and fraud that takes place.