Unknown Caller: What You Need to Know

Evelyn Sanderson - September 30, 2024

Caller ID has come a long way since phones have been around. While caller ID used to just give you a name or number, most smartphones can tell you the name of an individual or business that’s calling you, along with where the caller is from. In fact, most smartphones will even notify you when it’s a scam or spam call with a caller ID that displays Scam Likely.

While these are great features that help you know who’s calling before you answer the phone, sometimes you’ll run into problems. For example, someone might hide their caller ID using a vertical service code (VSC), which can result in their caller ID displaying as private or unknown. Therefore, sometimes, it’s hard to know who’s on the other line.

The good news is that it’s possible to discover the identity of unknown callers with a reputable reverse phone lookup tool, along with a little help from your service provider, the authorities, or vertical service codes. Read on to learn everything you need to know about unknown callers, including how to identify them and call them back.

What Is an Unknown Caller?

An unknown caller appears on your caller ID when someone tries to contact you with a number that can’t be verified by your phone service provider. Typically, this is the result of a network issue, but it can also be caused by people calling you from out of the country or by callers using voice-over-internet protocol (VOIP). 

In either case, your smartphone will display Unknown on the screen when receiving an incoming call. Unknown calls can also appear on other phone types as well, so it’s not just something you have to deal with when using a smartphone.

While unknown callers will appear that way on your caller ID, they’re not the same as private callers, restricted callers, or callers who show up with no caller ID. These are situations where people are intentionally hiding their caller ID, so it’s important to keep that in mind. However, some phone providers will still display Unknown instead of private or no caller ID, so keep this in mind as well.

How to Find the Number of an Unknown Caller 

Before you can learn more about the identity of a caller who’s appearing as Unknown, you need to uncover the phone number. To do so, you’ll have to use a vertical service code, contact your provider, or even speak with the authorities – depending on the severity of the situation. 

The good news is that it’s possible to find the number of an unknown caller, so you don’t have to worry about being defenseless. Learn more about how to find the number of an unknown caller below.

Vertical Service Codes 

Vertical service codes, or VSCs, are useful tools to help you uncover an unknown caller. These are codes that are programmed into your device by your provider to help you hide your caller ID, call back no caller ID, or even block numbers. 

VSCs used to be commonly used to add favorites to your contacts for speed dial purposes, but they’re still useful today. In fact, you can even use VSCs on smartphones to call back unknown callers. For example, you can use *69 to call back no caller ID on an iPhone.

This also applies to Android devices, home phones, and other office phones. Ultimately, if you have a phone provider, there’s a good chance that you can use a VSC. To use a VSC to find a phone number that called you, you just have to type *69 after the caller hangs up their phone or leaves a message. 

If it’s possible to contact the number, you can call them back and then save the number in your phone.

Contact Your Phone Service Provider 

All calls that come into your phone have to pass through a service provider first; otherwise, you will not be able to receive any calls. For this reason, phone providers keep records of all the calls that your phone has sent or received. This tends to be publicly available if you’re the holder of a phone plan, so you can contact your provider to see if the number shows up in your call history.

Typically, these records will only include the date, time, phone number, and length of the call. Therefore, you’ll have to do some detective work and find out when the unknown number called you to match it up with the appropriate number. It’s also important to note that people who intentionally hide their numbers may not be able to be found this way. 

Contact the Authorities 

If you can’t find the phone number using VSCs or by contacting your phone service provider, you’re not out of options yet. You can always contact the authorities if you’re worried about someone’s intentions. Ultimately, if the unknown caller is harassing you, making threats, or otherwise making you fear for your safety, you can contact the authorities. 

Local law enforcement can sometimes find this information for you and help you block the number. They can also pull more detailed records from phone service providers, so you might find more information with them. Once you go this route, learning more about the caller will likely be out of your hands, so it depends on how important that information is to you.

How to Learn More About a Phone Number Using Information.com 

Once you have the phone number that an unknown caller has been using, you can start to learn more about the caller. To do so, all you need is the phone number and our reverse phone lookup tool. Then, you can enter the phone number into our reverse phone lookup tool and learn everything you need to know about an unknown caller.

When you search with Information.com, you can find the following information:

• The name of the caller
• Where a caller is located 
• Any businesses associated with a phone number 
• Additional phone numbers they might be using 
• Additional contact information for the caller
• Known associates or relatives or the caller 

Aside from information about the phone number, you can take this a step further when you dig deeper into the full report. For example, you can even view a caller’s criminal records, sex offender status, and much more.

Overall, we make the process as hassle-free as possible. Once you have the phone number you want to search, simply enter it into our reverse phone lookup tool and let us do the rest. Plus, you’ll have your results in a matter of minutes.

Say Goodbye to Unknown Callers Today

It’s time to say goodbye to unknown callers. Even if the caller isn’t hiding their number on purpose, it’s rarely a good idea to answer the phone if an unknown caller is reaching out. Anyone who has something important to tell you will leave a message or find another way to contact you. Plus, you never know if the person on the other line is trying to scam you or lie about their identity.

The good news is that we can help you handle unknown callers. Once you know their number, we can help you learn more about their identity with our reverse phone lookup tool. If you have already spoken with them and they have given you their name, you can use our people search tool to see if the information they gave you is legitimate. 

At the end of the day, the best way to handle an unknown caller is to make sure they don’t stay unknown for long, and we’re always here to help.