Our phones are one of the most important tools we have, and most of them see a lot of use every day. Given how important it is to be aware of the calls you receive and the people you are in contact with, it can be concerning when you find yourself getting phone calls from an unknown number.
Whether you are worried you missed a call from an important contact or are trying to see if the caller is a telemarketer, scammer, or prankster, it is understandable that you would want to find out who is calling you.
There are a few ways you can try to find out who exactly is calling you.
Can I Trace The Number If Someone Calls My Cell Phone?
If you are wondering if you can trace a number as the police do in the movies, the answer is no.
You can’t track the location of another person’s phone using their number, and you shouldn’t believe any third-party websites that tell you they can.
If someone calls your cell and you want to find out who they are, you can use a few methods to find out who they are or at least where they are calling from.
Checking the area code might be a way to approximate the area the caller is from. However, you should be aware that some robocalls come from a practice called “neighbor spoofing.” Here, your own area code is used to mask a fake cell phone number in an attempt to get you to answer unwanted calls.
Check Google
A quick and easy way to see who is calling you is to look up the number on google. If the caller is a company or someone with their number listed publicly, chances are you can find out who they are from a simple google search.
This may not give you any results if the number belongs to a private household or is fake, but you can figure out whether or not a recognizable company is calling you.
Googling can also tell you where the area code came from, which might help you figure out the identity of the unknown caller.
Perform A Reverse Phone Lookup
If a simple Google search doesn’t cut it, third-party services let you perform a reverse lookup to find a phone number owner. One such service is Spokeo, which can be accessed through your web browser search bar.
Using the reverse phone lookup service called Spokeo, you can input the ten-digit number that called you and see if the application finds any matches in real-time. If it does, you are given access to part of the name and address for free, with the rest of the personal details requiring a payment.
Spokeo can look up both wireless and landline callers, and it uses whitepages listings along with information from social networks, phone providers, background checks, and public records for reverse number lookup.
Check Spam Call Websites
In some cases, incoming calls won’t be legitimate at all, and will in fact be spam calls. If you suspect this might be the case, you could try using an online spam checking service.
Using Truecaller, you can find out whether or not a number that is contacting you has been reported and identified as spam. You have to sign into Truecaller to prove you aren’t a bot if you want to use the service.
Once you do this, you can look up the number and see the spam statistics associated with it based on public databases. If the number has been used as a spam number on others before you, chances are you will see it when you use this site, and then can blacklist it by blocking the number.
Why Hide Your Number?
Even if you utilize all the steps above, it is possible that you still won’t find out who your caller is. The truth is that there are a lot of benefits that come with hiding your phone number, and the ability to maintain an anonymous caller id is one that a lot of people want to have.
Burner is an app that allows you to create a second phone number. It functions as a second phone. Burner routes everything through this second number, keeping your current information safe and secure. By doing something like this, a person’s identity would be hidden.
Conclusion
There are plenty of great reasons to want to find out who is calling you. A hidden number could be a local contact or a company in the area, and if that is the case, then there are ways to find out. If you are getting a spam call, there are ways of finding that out as well.
However, there are also good reasons to want to keep your identity hidden, and Burner allows you to make calls and send text messages from a totally separate number. When you do this, you make yourself anonymous and take steps toward prioritizing your own privacy so that unknown calls like scam calls, anonymous calls, or phone harassment will not be coming directly to your real number.
Download the Burner app now and start your 7-day free trial today.
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