What is a Phone Number Report, and What Does It Show?

Phone numbers are unique codes assigned to customer profiles, operating as a form of pseudo-identification. People recognize the sender’s number and decide how to respond to a text or phone call.

Anonymous communications take this power away from you. If you expect an important call, you’re more likely to answer every ring and encounter more scammers. Additionally, answering a phony call once can make you a higher-priority target for other attacks.

What is a Phone Number Report?

Inteligator’s reverse phone lookup and report traces the phone number and tells you exactly who’s on the other end. We reference the latest phone records and high-risk number databases to get the following information on any unknown number:

How Does a Reverse Phone Number Lookup Work?

Phone numbers are a primary contact method frequently requested on government forms and online accounts. This means most individuals and businesses have their phone numbers entered into countless databases and public records.

Inteligator searches these spaces for any instances of the target phone number. We use the result’s accompanying information to learn the target’s name, location, online footprint, and other vital details.

This data is compiled into an easily understood summary that can be used to confirm a contact, report spam, or proceed with an investigation. It’s useful for personal security, business research, and someone’s call history.

Why You Should Check Who’s Calling

Thanks to caller ID and spam filters, many people ignore every call originating from an unknown number. However, we sometimes need to communicate with people we don’t know, and spam filters can be wrong.

You might be applying for jobs or awaiting medical news. In either case, it’s unlikely that you’ve created a dedicated contact for all the numbers the organization can call you from. You must respond to or check all calls to ensure you don’t miss the legitimate ones.

Debt collection agencies often use separate call centers to contact borrowers. This routing is used by most organizations that contact large populations on a regular basis. It sets off red flags on a service provider’s spam detectors and makes the caller ID appear as “Scam Likely.”

Having a phone number lookup in your back pocket helps you quickly deal with these situations. You don’t have to worry about missing calls that may put you at social, financial, or medical risk. Parents and spouses can also utilize our phone lookup to check the numbers in a loved one’s call history.

Signs of a Phone Scam

Criminals have countless ways to sneak into your wallet. Phone scams can cheat you out of your life savings while preying on your fear, doubt, and love. Recognizing these signs will protect you when you forget to run a phone number report.

One of the most common tactics used in a phone scam is creating a “sense of urgency.” The scammer tells you that you must make an immediate decision or you can’t avoid the consequences. They threaten you with overdue interest, a medical emergency, or the loss of a one-time sale.

This approach is effective against phone lookups because the scammer convinces the target that there’s no time to run one. However, phone number reports only take a few seconds to complete and can be run while on the phone with the other party.

Other signs of phone scams include:

• Promise of a prize after a small payment
• Threat of immediate arrest from law enforcement
• Demands for unorthodox payment methods like gift cards or payment app
• Asking for sensitive information over the phone (SSN, address, etc.)

Preventing Robocalls

Robocalls are automated calls made to long lists of publicly available numbers.

The Federal Communications Commission has a “Do Not Call List” available for free. This list forces telemarketers to jump through hoops to reach you, often making it not worth the trouble. Telemarketers are also not allowed to contact you in the early morning or late evening.

However, criminals don’t exactly play by the FCC’s rules. Most phone services have built-in spam detectors, but they aren’t perfect. The best way to prevent scam calls is to make yourself a less desirable target.

The first habit is to stop giving your phone number to online sites and profiles. These platforms don’t need your contact information, and doing so will make your number harder for scammers to find online.

You should also stop answering unknown numbers. If you must answer an anonymous call, run the number through a phone record lookup service first. This will tell you whether it’s a legitimate communication.