Phone scams have unfortunately become so common that people receive suspicious calls almost every day trying to gain access to their personal information. Sadly, scammers have gotten so smart that they can contact you through any means, such as text, calls, and many other ways to find personal information or track the location of the phone number.
Therefore, as a responsible citizen, you must report any scam incident or a potential scammer to the authorities. You can do so by spotting the scam call with a scammer phone number lookup. It is a practice in which you can rapidly spot a fraudster through some tools on the internet.
That said, after reading this article, you’ll know how to run a scam phone number lookup and stay safe.
Know More About Scam Phone Number Lookup
Doing a scam phone number lookup, you can identify whether the call you have received is legit or not. It involves several procedures that help you throughout the process.
These steps can help you figure out:
- If other people have reported that number as a scam earlier
- Personal information associated with that number, such as name, address, location, and further details.
- Is the number from illegal robocalling?
- Pointing out several scam strategies like phone number spoofing.
Sometimes, scammers are cunning enough to efficiently mimic a certain business that is trusted and renowned worldwide. They build websites and fake messages that look just like the real ones. However, there are still some signs that they leave behind, letting you spot that they are fake.
This can be done to phone numbers as well. With a scam phone number lookup, you can figure out if the number calling you is a scammer phone number or not. That said, here are some effective ways to run the process:
Take Help from Online Scam Phone Number Lookup Tools
There are several online resources to run the free scammer phone number lookup procedure. Luckily, you can opt for any option between the free and paid tools. However, in this section, we are going to list some free scam phone number lookup tools:
1. Reverse Phone Lookup Sites
Reverse phone lookup services make you aware of the callers’ information. Numerous online tools on the internet can help you in reverse phone lookup. With this service, you will be able to figure out the cell phone number’s location, carrier information, and other details. That said, here are some of those websites that might be useful in this case:
- BeenVerified: If you want to search public records, and VINs online, BeenVerified is there for you. It also lets you uncover names, phone numbers, addresses, and emails.
- PeopleLooker: This website also lets you get access to public record information with its affordable service.
- TruthFinder: TruthFinder is one of the best reverse phone lookup sites that you can go for. Not only this, you can also try address lookup on this website.
- Intelius: This website claims to be the people’s search engine. Intelius lets you perform tailored searches and have a comprehensive report of the information.
- Instant Checkmate: Whether you want to track someone in America, or get their public record information, Instant Checkmate is always at your service.
Use Your Network Provider’s Tools
It does not matter which service provider you have chosen for your network needs, the company must provide you with tools and resources to identify and block the spam calls on your device. Some of the popular network providers that provide their own tools are mentioned below:
- Verizon Call Filter: Verizon users can use their call filter app, which lets you report, block, and get alerts on potential scam contacts.
- T-Mobile Scam ID and Scam Block: For its users, T-Mobile allows them to enable Scam ID and Scam Block features to identify the Scam Likely calls.
- Sprint Premium Caller ID: The enhanced caller ID and spam protection tools from Sprint Premium Caller ID will never let you encounter any fraudulent calls.
- AT&T Call Protect: If you own an AT&T service, you can call the number #662# to block fraudulent phone calls.
These applications are available on both Android and iOS app stores.
Use Social Media
You can use social media platforms to uncover the secret behind the scam phone numbers. The best options for this situation can be Facebook, LinkedIn, and Reddit.
However, this method does not work every time. If the scammer’s phone number is highly used in scamming various people, there might be a chance that some user on these social media has given some details on that number.
To do this, you have to enter the contact number in the search box. If you get a result related to that phone number, visit that account and look if the account seems fraudulent or not.
Seek Assistance from Google
Many of you might feel the most comfortable in using Google for the scam phone number lookup. The best part about using Google is that it is absolutely free, and you do not have to pay a single penny for its services.
Just simply copy the phone number that you find suspicious. In the Google search box, enter the questioned phone number in quotation (“xxx-xxx-xxxx”). This simple search alone will provide the information in results whether the phone number is fraudulent or not.
How to Protect Yourself If You Get Any Scam Call?
Take the following actions to prevent being targeted in the future, in addition to researching and reporting specific scam numbers:
- Never Pick Up Unknown Calls: If you don’t answer, scammers frequently hang up. At the same time, verified callers will leave a message.
- Never Give Callers Your Personal Information: Never disclose sensitive information over the phone, even if the caller seems to be from a reputable company. Such information may include your passwords, bank account information, or social security numbers.
- End Recorded Conversations: Don’t talk to automated systems or push buttons. This indicates that your phone is active, which attracts more fraudsters to contact you.
- Refrain from Sharing Your Phone Number Online: When sharing your phone number online, use precautions. Criminals harvest numbers from websites where they can access your contact information.
- Utilize Screening and Call Blocking Tools: To proactively block unwanted calls, use the call blocking and ID features offered by your carrier as well as through apps.
- Learn About the Latest Scams: Stay informed about the most recent phone scams that are occurring so you can identify their strategies. Don’t answer opportunistic calls from unidentified numbers.
Along with these points, you should also consider some additional measures to stay safe:
FTC Do Not Call Registry
The government maintains a whole registry for the contact numbers in which you can get your number registered. You can also enter your number on their website to check if your contact is already in the registry or not. This registry restricts the telemarketers to avoid calling those contact numbers that are registered in this list.
FTC Phone Scam Information
Just like the Do Not Call registry, the government also provides an online resource where you can report a contact number that is used by the scammers on their database.
Use Your Phone’s In-Built Tools
If you do not want to be the whistle-blower and want to simply avoid the concern, the best help you can seek is your own mobile phone. You can get help from various phone settings such as:
- Block Contact Feature: If you encounter a spam contact, simply block it, and you will never receive a call from that number (unless you unblock it after some time).
- Enable Spam Call Filtering: Both Android and iOS devices allow you to turn on the feature and filter out the unwanted scam calls that you receive. You just need to tweak some call settings on your device.
- Mark as Spam: Marking a contact as spam can help you and others to get warned. It also lets your mobile device filter it with the help of the spam filtering feature.
- Take Help from Google: You can enter the number in the Google search. The online website results will let you know is this a scammer number or not.
Use Call Blocking Apps
Further in this list, you can also use call-blocking applications that are available for free on the internet. Some of them are:
- Truecaller: Identify and block unwanted fraud calls and search a number online for free.
- Nomorobo: Expert in identifying robocalls and adding them to your block list.
- YouMail: Visual application to screen and block robot spam calls.
- Hiya: Eliminate all the potential scam calls from your device.
Beware of any call-blocking apps before trusting and using their services. Some of them may charge a huge amount of money in exchange for their service, whereas some might be fraud apps and ultimately get access to your private data.
If you take these steps in your daily life, you will always stay safe.
How to Check if a Scammer is Calling You?
As mentioned earlier, scammers leave several signs from which we can figure out whether the call is a scam or not. To check the scammer phone number or if the call you are receiving is a scam or not:
- Use Google to look up the phone number.
- Look for indications that the number is a fraud.
- Pay attention to the warning indicators of typical phone scams.
- Use the anti-spam apps provided by your phone provider.
- Check if the Scammer phone number is associated with a social media account.
- Put an end to unauthorized calls on your phone.
With these steps and signs, you will be safe from scam calls and will be able to identify them.
Endnote
With advanced technologies and several new innovations in the sector, scammers have also developed numerous ways to breach privacy and perform fraudulent deeds. One of those ways is through scam calls. However, with free scammer phone number lookup, you can stay safe from these calls and enjoy your privacy.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Ans: To spot a scam call on your mobile phone, you can look for certain signs such as:
- A claim that you have been selected.
- Use of high-pressure sales tactics and offers.
- Hesitation to answer questions about the offer.
- Request that you “confirm your personal information”.
Ans: Yes, you can track the information about scammers by the spoof phone number and email from which they are contacting you.
Ans: A 6-digit number scam is a tactic where they tell Google Voice to call your personal number. The call speaks the code, or the text message supplies the code, with a caution note to not share the code with anyone.
