Use this phone number look-up service to check and find out who has been calling your phone and/or mobile phone…
How many things have you bought online via your phone over the years? Hundreds, thousands? Well, every time you enter you phone number as part of the check-out process, you run the risk of it being sold to third-party advertisers and marketers.
Most reputable online stores do not do this, but some do and that is why you get the occasional spam call – someone sold your number, along with thousands of others, to a scammer and/or telemarketing company. It sucks. But this is just a fact of life.
And even if you avoid having your number sold on by some dodgy retailer, there’s no getting around hackers – they’re constantly targeting online retailers in order to get access to their stored data (your email, phone number, and credit card details).
This is why it is super important to be able to figure out who called you if you did not recognise the number. It could be harmless, of course, but it could also be a scammer and/or hacker. Read on to find out how to quickly check who just called your phone..
Use Phone Number Look-Up Services To Check Random Calls
If you’re getting a lot of calls from random numbers, and a lot of them are sales people or scammers, you can take action against them. If they call and their number displays on your phone, you have a record. You can now take that number and enter it in a Phone Number Look-Up service like this one.
The phone number look-up service will then scan its libraries for a number and pull out any information it can. Once you have the information, you can do with it what you please. If you want to report them to the authorities, you now have a bunch of information that they could use.
Also, the cool thing about mobile phones is that they always store the numbers of people that call you, so if you can remember the date or day when you last got a weird call from somebody you shouldn’t, you can scroll through your phone app until you find then number. Then all you have to do is enter it into the phone number look-up service.
Block Unwanted Calls Permanently
Spam calls are super annoying. I get a few every now and then, but I know friends that are literally plagued by them. So much so that one of them actually went out and go a brand new phone number. He needn’t have done this, however, as there are plenty of services – like Uncall – that will remove your phone number from marketing and/or advertising call sheets.
The service, which costs £15 per device, ensures that your mobile phone number, if it has been compromised, is systematically removed from leadsheets – these are what marketing and advertising companies use to target perspective leads. Once your number is removed, you’ll no longer get any spam callers. Simple, right?
Obviously, something like Uncall is only worth doing if you’re having real problems with spam callers. If you get the odd spam call, like once a month or something, it probably isn’t worth it. If you’re getting a few scam calls a week, or, worse, a day, then it is potentially worth investing in. It certainly beats having to change your number and all the nightmares that come with that.
It’s also important to note that the iPhone has built-in call blocking features. Click the link to learn how to block someone on iPhone.
Stop Your Phone Number Getting on The Dark Web
The dark web is a strange place. Most people never encounter it, but it is alive and well in 2021 and is the #1 place for criminals to store, access, and plot schemes and exploits. Your phone number, for a variety of reasons, can make its way onto the dark web. If this happens, you’ll start getting more and more scam calls. Again, you can protect against this with Uncall but most will not need this kind of coverage unless something really bad has happened.
How does your phone number get on the dark web? Hacks, mostly. Hackers will target retailers or email providers, access their stored data, things like your email, phone number, and credit card, and download it for use later. This personal information is worth millions which is why hackers and scammers are so keen on hacking well known businesses. It is also why companies like Amazon spend billions of security every year.
“Data is transmitted very quickly. There’s no ship time. Criminals buy it, they get it instantly, and they can cash it out,” said Emily Wilson, the vice president of research at cybersecurity firm Terbium Labs.
“Data is often good for a long time. If somebody uses your credit card, you get a fraud alert, and get a new credit card number. That’s a loss to you and that’s annoying. But what about your Social [Security number], what about your name, what about your address or your driver’s license numbers? These are data points that can be exploited for decades or for a lifetime. And once it’s out it’s nearly impossible to get it back.”
Obviously, this isn’t good, so if you want to ensure your number isn’t on the dark web, use this tool to check it, and if it use you can then use Uncall to get it removed.
And be sure to check out how to set up voicemail on an iPhone. Also be sure to also check out how to transfer contacts from iPhone to iPhone!
Richard Goodwin
Richard Goodwin has been working as a tech journalist for over 10 years. He is the editor and owner of KnowYourMobile.