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Tech


HOW TO FIGURE OUT WHAT WEIRDO JUST CALLED YOU


THERE ARE MORE WAYS TO CRACK THIS CASE THAN YOU THINK.

By
Lindsey Ellefson

Monday 5:30PM

Comments (14)
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Photo: fizkes (Shutterstock)


There are a lot of instances when you might need to match a phone number to a
real person’s name. Maybe you got a text from an unknown number. Maybe you’ve
seen a call from an unlisted contact pop up repeatedly on your partner’s home
screen. Whatever the case may be, here are some of the best ways to nail down
the name of the person behind a number and figure out how or why they’re
reaching out.


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HOW TO DETERMINE IF IT’S A REAL NUMBER

There are loads of apps and online services out there that can give you a
secondary phone number, like Google Voice and TextFree. Some of these will add a
little note at the bottom of text messages, like, “This message was sent using
[app name],” but not all of them do. If the person is using a throwaway number
or third-party app to contact you, it’ll be harder to figure out who they are,
but might clue you in to whether their motivation is shady. Your first order of
business is to determine if that’s what they’re doing.

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Step one here is to save the number as something like “Mystery Caller.” If you
have an iPhone, open a text thread with your new contact. If you have the option
to iMessage, rather than text message them, they’re using a real iCloud account,
which is a solid signal this is their real number. If you do only get the option
to text message them, it doesn’t automatically mean you’re dealing with someone
using a third-party messaging service; they could just have an Android.

We’ll get to your reverse-lookup options momentarily. Some reverse lookups can
tell you if the person is using a real phone number backed by a mobile carrier,
but this gets dicy because of how widespread those services are and the
different terms used to describe mobile numbers, prepaid numbers, and the like.
If you’re feeling bold, block your number using trusty old *67, then call the
person. In some cases, a third-party provider will play audio that says
something like, “Hello. Please state your name after the tone, and Google Voice
will try to connect you.” If you don’t hear something like this after a ring or
two, it could be a signal the person is using their real number.

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HOW TO REVERSE LOOK UP A PHONE NUMBER

There are plenty of reverse phone number search sites online that you can use to
glean some knowledge about your mystery contact. You may have to pay money here.
Whitepages offers a reverse phone lookup, for instance. I just entered my real
phone number and it correctly revealed my home town, where the number is
registered, and noted that it’s a number associated with a cell phone. When I
clicked the button offering to reveal the owner’s name, I was prompted to pay
$9.99 for a single report or $2.50 per month for regular access to reports.

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I then entered a phone number I know to be a Google Voice number. It did not
show me any location data (although the area code, which a third-party user gets
to pick, is in Manhattan) and it identified this as a “landline.” If you’re
getting texts from an unknown number that comes back as a landline, you can
assume it’s a third party app.

More in-depth searches, like Intelius, can give you lots of information about
someone for a fee, but don’t always return results for third-party apps. If your
contact is using their real phone number, you’ll be able to get information,
usually by paying around a dollar for a one-time report (though Intelius can
tack on a service fee of about $3.99).

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USE THE APPS YOU ALREADY HAVE

Here’s where things get fun. Using reverse lookup tools is effective in many
cases, but there are other methods, especially if you don’t want to pay, don’t
trust those sites, or aren’t getting hits. Social media is a great tool here.

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We’ve already told you that you can use Snapchat to figure out who is calling or
texting you by saving the person’s number and then going to your friend
suggestions, where you’ll see them at the bottom of the list (if they have a
Snap). When you use Snapchat, be advised that it will auto-populate your contact
name for them in, so you might see them as “Mystery Caller.” Looking at their
username can help you figure out who they are. (This is also true on Clubhouse
and Signal. You’ll see their contact name, not their real name, but at least
you’ll know they’re contacting you from the number they use for their socials.)

Instagram used to suggest people whose number you had saved, but it’s not as
reliable anymore. TikTok is a good one because it will suggest that you follow
people who are in your contacts and you can click their profile (with your
profile views option toggled firmly off) to see if you recognize them, but be
careful here. TikTok has also started reverse-suggesting contacts, meaning your
target may get a suggestion to follow you. TikTok shows users why each suggested
follow is appearing. You’ll notice some of your suggestions say “From your
contacts.” In some cases, the suggestion will say, “You’re in their contacts.”
If you’re searching, say, for someone who’s been hitting up your friend or
significant other, you might give yourself away like this.

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Finally, the GOAT: CashApp. You can type a phone number into CashApp and it will
display the associated account, if the person has one. If they do have one, you
won’t see your contact name for them, as, in most cases, people have their real
names (or initials) on finance-related apps.

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Watch
-1:38
CC
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Comedian Bobby Moynihan Talks About Leaving SNL and Writing a Children’s Book
02:10
Now playing

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Wednesday 3:35PM
02:27
Now playing

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Wednesday 1:36PM











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