Have you ever received a call and asked yourself, "Who called me from this number?" You're not alone. I've had the same experience several times and will not hesitate to share what I did with you.
Every day, people receive calls from unknown numbers, and often they are unsure whether or not to pick up those calls. Many of those who do end up being victims of scams and fraudulent activities, while some reconnect with friends and loved ones whose contact they lost.
To be on the safe side, there are several steps you can take to know who called you to determine if it's a safe call that's worth taking or returning, in case you missed it. But first, let me share an experience I had with you.
Who Called Me From This Phone Number?
In our report on 410 area code scams, I brought up the strange call I received from that short code, but I didn't talk about other calls I've received. One of those was a call from someone claiming to be from China but living in Queens, New York.
The caller sounded very friendly and requested that I come on WhatsApp, where he reached me with a US number. Two things made me suspicious:
His demands, and
The fact that I received the call from a Nigerian country code number.
I confronted him on the situation, but before I did that, I asked this very question: Who called me from this number? It wasn't long before I used my Caller reverse phone lookup application to check, and I discovered the number had been repeatedly reported for spamming. Interesting.
That was when I decided to confront the caller on WhatsApp, and I analyzed his responses. I found out he was using AI to respond, and that was a red flag, with other patterns I've observed in similar chats with other people who reach out to me.
How To Look Up Who Called Me From This Phone Number?
You may be wondering which caller lookup application I used to find out more information about the phone number. It was Truecaller, but my default log also helped, though at a late time.
What is Truecaller? Truecaller is a communication application that identifies a caller ID for people to know who is calling them. It can also identify who called you and if it's a spam number, a sales call, or a legitimate contact.
The application gives you the ability to block and manage blocked numbers, clean the message inbox, prevent spam texts, and find out relevant information about people who call or text you. Information such as their names, where they're calling from, and whether or not they are a top spammer, with feedback from other callers.
The screenshot above shows a caller who tried to reach out to me and got blocked. According to Truecaller's call activity for that caller, in the past 60 days, the number was involved in 1030 calls and reported as spam 35 times, earning it a top spammer title.
The screenshot below shows a comment from a receiver who wrote that the caller claimed they were their aunt's husband and that their aunt had a fire accident. This is a tactic often used by scammers to defraud their targets.
What should you do?
To be on the safe side, you should consider using the Truecaller application. And if you want to check who called you from a number, do the following:
Copy the number from your phone dialing app.
Visit your Truecaller application and insert the copied number in the search box and search.
Wait for the result and carefully examine the details.
Use Truecaller by default to know who is calling you.
Aside from Truecaller, there are other applications you can use to find out who called you, including Livecaller, Whoscall, and free online reverse phone lookup services like Whitepages, AnyWho, and NumLooker.
If you consider finding out who called you from a strange number and decide to use any of these applications, endeavor to check their privacy and take an informed move. Remember, your safety comes first.
