Free spam call check
Why am I getting so many spam calls?
Usually because your number is on lists that get copied and sold. People-search sites publish it next to your name and address, data brokers add it to marketing lists, and autodialers call whatever numbers they have. Blocking stops single calls; the lists keep supplying new ones.
- Free report in 48 hours
- 15 people-search sites
- No credit card
Check where your number is listed
We search people-search sites for your number and email you what we find.
Five ways your number ends up on call lists
- 1
People-search sites publish it
Sites like Spokeo, Whitepages and FastPeopleSearch show your number next to your name, address and relatives to anyone who searches. The FTC found that data brokers draw on telephone directories, public records and commercial sources, and that consumers are “largely unaware” of it.
- 2
Data brokers add it to marketing lists
The FTC describes “data append” products: a company hands over a name and address and gets back a phone number or email “for the client’s use in direct mail, telemarketing, and email marketing campaigns.” That is how a company you never gave your number to can call it.
- 3
Forms pass it on
Sign-up forms and shops can share or sell what you enter. The FCC advises reading a site’s privacy policy before submitting your number and checking whether the companies you deal with sell or share your information.
- 4
Autodialers guess it
Some callers never needed a list. The federal definition of an autodialer covers equipment that can produce numbers “using a random or sequential number generator” and dial them. And the FTC notes that robocalls are “cheap and easy” to make over the internet from anywhere.
- 5
Answering confirms it
A call you pick up tells the caller the number is live. The FTC: pressing numbers “to speak to someone or remove you from the list will probably only lead to more robocalls.” Hang up instead.
What stops calls today
Free, and each takes a few minutes.
- 1
Turn on your phone’s filter
iPhone: Settings → Apps → Phone → Silence Unknown Callers. Pixel: Call Screen. Other Android phones: Phone app → Settings → Caller ID & spam → Filter spam calls. Samsung: Smart Call.
- 2
Turn on your carrier’s free blocker
AT&T ActiveArmor is included with every AT&T wireless plan, Verizon Call Filter has a free tier, and the FCC lists T-Mobile Scam Shield for blocking scam calls and robocalls.
- 3
Register with Do Not Call
Free at DoNotCall.gov. In the FTC’s words it stops “sales calls from real companies that follow the law”, not scammers, and it can take up to 31 days.
donotcall.gov
Blocking treats the symptom. Removal slows the refill.
Filters catch calls as they arrive. Your number keeps reaching new callers as long as it stays on the sites that publish and sell it. Getting it removed from people-search sites and data brokers means fewer places a new caller can pick it up.
We have not measured how much removal reduces spam calls, and it won't stop every call: some come from random dialing or lists callers already have. Removal takes weeks per site, and listings can come back.
Prefer to do it yourself? Start with how to remove yourself from people-search sites and the opt-out guides.
Jordan A. Miller, 41
Columbus, OH · 3 records found
Questions
Why am I suddenly getting so many spam calls?
Usually your number landed on a new list: a people-search listing, a data broker’s marketing file or a form you filled in. Answering or pressing a number can add to it, because it confirms the number is live. From the outside nobody can see which list a caller used; where your number is published is the part you can check.
Is the check really free?
Yes. You get the report whether or not you want us to remove anything. If you do, removal costs $99 per year including monthly re-checks, and we confirm everything with you by email before anything is charged.
Will removing my number stop all spam calls?
No, and nobody can promise that. Some calls come from random dialing or lists callers already have. We have not measured how much removal reduces calls. What it does is cut the number of public places that list your number, so fewer new callers can pick it up.
What happens to the number I enter?
We use it only to check where you are listed and, if you want, to remove you. It is encrypted, stored in the EU, never sold or shared, and you can delete it at any time.
See who is publishing your number
Sources
- FTC: robocalls are cheap and easy over the internet; pressing numbers leads to more robocalls
- FTC 2014 data broker report: sources incl. telephone directories, data append for telemarketing, consumers largely unaware
- 47 U.S.C. 227(a)(1): automatic telephone dialing system, random or sequential number generator
- FCC: read privacy policies before submitting your number on websites
- FTC: what the Do Not Call Registry stops, up to 31 days
- FCC call blocking tools: AT&T ActiveArmor, T-Mobile Scam Shield, Verizon Call Filter
- AT&T: fraud and spam call blocking included with every wireless plan
- Verizon: Call Filter free features
- Apple: Silence Unknown Callers
- Google: Call Screen on Pixel
- Google Phone app: Filter spam calls
- Samsung: Smart Call, Caller ID and spam protection
Drafted with AI assistance from the sources above; the statements match our spam call guide. Not yet re-checked by a person. How we work.