Why Do Unknown Numbers Keep Calling Me?
Cindy Ellis - January 17, 2024
It’s no surprise if you’re getting calls from unknown numbers with the increased number of spammers and their everchanging methods to obtain our information. Some of these calls might be genuine, but repeated calls from unknown numbers are usually for telemarketing or spam.
It’s undoubtedly frustrating to get calls from unknown numbers every day. Luckily, there are ways to prevent these unwanted calls from distracting you.
Our article will give you several answers to why unknown numbers may keep calling you and provide tips on how to prevent these unwanted calls.
5 Reasons Why You’re Getting Calls From Unknown Numbers
Below, you’ll find several reasons as to why you might be getting calls from strange phone numbers. Although not all will apply to your situation, some may explain why you’re getting calls from unknown phone numbers.
Telemarketing and Robocalls
Telemarketing and robocalls are far from dead, despite companies shifting towards other ways to sell products, such as digital marketing. It’s more than likely that the call you’re getting is simply to offer you a deal for a product or service.
If you’re wondering how your phone number ended up in their hands, telemarketers use various methods to obtain your information. The most common is calling any number that starts with 800, 888, or 900. These numbers utilize an Automatic Number Identification system that stores your phone number.
Scams
Spam messages and calls plague our email inboxes and phones. It wouldn’t be surprising if the calls you’re getting are from scammers who want to deceive you. Once you get a scam call and answer it, you’ll get many more since answering these calls gives the indication that your phone number is active.
For this reason, it’s best not to answer calls from unknown numbers. If someone is genuinely trying to reach you, they will leave you a voicemail or find other ways to contact you, such as through text messages or social media.
Debt Collection
Another reason why unknown numbers might be calling you is due to an unpaid debt. Debt collectors use automated systems to let you know about what you owe. If you owe to the bank or an insurance company, you’ll get calls to remind you of your debt, for example.
While not answering calls from unknown numbers is a wise thing to do, note that your debt may incur interest if you’re unaware of it and fail to pay. Make sure to check your payments to prevent such things from happening. Alternatively, you can use our reverse phone number lookup search engine to learn more about the caller.
Public Phone Number
If your phone number is listed somewhere public, such as your social media account or a post you’ve made on a forum, it’s likely that’s why you’re getting calls from unknown phone numbers. There are tons of bots that scrape up phone numbers from the internet to sell them to data companies.
You can find out if this is the case by looking up your phone number on a search engine. Enter your phone number in quotes to the search bar and see if any results appear. You can then remove it from the previously posted places. If you find your phone number somewhere you didn’t post, reach out to the site owner to get it removed.
Wrong Number
While there are many annoying reasons why unknown numbers may be calling you, it could be simply a wrong phone number. The chances of this happening increase even further if your phone number is similar to one that’s getting calls every day.
How Unknown Callers Get Your Phone Number
We’ve touched on some, but there are various other ways unknown callers may get your number. Here’s a list of these common methods.
- Dark Web: The dark web is an attractive place for fraudsters to buy personal details of individuals. Scammers purchase phone number details in bulk and use them for various phishing scams.
- Web Search: As mentioned, web search is another way your phone number might end up in the wrong hands.
- Social Media: Think twice before adding your phone number to your social media profile, as it’s one of the most common ways unknown callers may obtain it.
While there are many other reasons, it all boils down to keeping your phone number away from public pages. This will ensure third parties don’t scrape it to use your phone number to give you unwanted calls.
Prevent Unknown Numbers From Calling You
If you’re bothered by the number of unknown phone numbers calling you, here are a few measures you can take.
Block the Number
You can simply block the phone number you don’t want to receive calls from using your phone’s pre-installed features. Here’s how you can do that on iPhone and Android devices.
How to Block a Phone Number on an iPhone
- Go to Settings.
- Scroll down to Phone.
- Tap Blocked Contacts.
- Add the phone number you want to block.
Alternatively, you can add the number to your contacts and block the number from there. Consider doing this instead if you want to attach a note to the phone number you’re blocking. In case you want to undo it, you can unblock the number on the Settings app.
How to Block a Phone Number on Android
- Launch the Phone app.
- Find the number you want to block.
- Tap and hold on the number you want to block.
- Select Block Number.
To unblock a number on Android, tap the three dots on the Phone app and go to Settings. From there, select Blocked Numbers and choose the number you want to remove from the list.
Never Answer
As recommended, never answer calls from an unknown phone number. After all, it takes time and resources to give your phone number a call, and not answering ensures they won’t waste their time bothering you. It’s an excellent preventative measure to stop the same unknown number from calling you over and over again.
Register Your Number to National Do Not Call Registry
The Federal Trade Commission has a Do Not Call registry that prevents telemarketers from calling you. Consider registering your phone to ensure you will never receive calls from telemarketers. Although doing this will only stop telemarketers and robocalls, it will reduce the number of calls from unknown phone numbers.
How to Know the Identity of an Unknown Phone Number
In case you want to know the identity of an unknown phone number, you can do so using various methods. While some are more concrete than others, here’s how you can reveal their identity.
Reverse Phone Number Lookup
Reverse phone number lookup is one of the few reliable ways to know who’s actually calling you. Who knows, maybe the phone number calling you belongs to an old friend trying to reconnect or just another marketing call – reverse phone number lookup can help you find out.
Use our phone number search to know who owns the phone number. This tool can also help you learn more about the individual, including criminal background, social media profiles, and address.
Google Search
Just as you would check if your number is on a public web page, you can do the same with the phone number calling you. With a simple Google search, you may be able to reveal the phone number’s identity.
When using Google to find out who’s calling you, prioritize results that may help you learn their identity. LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram – any other social media platform is a good place to start.
Check Your Contacts
The likelihood of this is slim, especially if the call you’re getting is spam, but there’s a chance that you’ve saved the phone number calling you to your contacts. If it appears to be unknown, checking your existing contacts is useless.
However, iCloud Contacts and Google Contacts automatically store all the contacts you’ve saved on your current and old phones. Check these apps, depending on your device, to see if you’ve saved the number before. If the phone number belongs to someone you know or once knew, you will know about it immediately.
Stay Safe and Never Answer Calls From Unknown Numbers
We hope our article has satisfied your curiosity about why unknown numbers keep calling you. Consider implementing the methods discussed to prevent getting unwanted calls from unknown numbers.
Above all, never answer calls from unknown numbers you suspect to be spam. This will ensure these calls don’t repeat themselves. If you suspect the number calling you is genuinely trying to reach out to you, let them leave a text or voicemail.
Alternatively, you can use the phone search on our homepage to reveal public information about the number.
