When your phone rings, you’ll pick up the phone and glance at the phone screen to check who’s calling you. When the phone screen shows ‘Unknown’ or ‘Private number’ instead of a specific number/caller ID, it’s hard to tell whether it’s a scammer call or someone you’ve been waiting for.

If you didn’t pick up the phone call, it seems impossible to know who’s calling. Fortunately, there are ways to identify the person behind a private number.

Method 1: Call back with #69 or *69

People can hide their phone numbers when calling, you also have the right to uncover the person behind a hidden phone call. The first and the easiest way you can try is Last Call Return. This service lets you automatically call the last number that called your phone, whether or not the call was private.

Here’s how:

• For landlines, dial *69 (in the U.S.).
• For mobile phones, dial #69 (in the U.S.).

If you miss the phone call and use this calling method, you won’t get the actual phone number of the private number. But you have the chance to get in touch with the caller if the caller picks up the call. Even if no people answer the call, you might get their voicemail which gives you a clue to the caller’s identity.

Well, this method may not work. One Reddit user tried it by typing in *69 after receiving a private number but received “call failed”¹. If you encounter the same situation, try the next method.

Method 2: Check your call log

Check your call logs with your service provider to get the phone number is a way to figure out calls with No caller ID. Many phone companies offer services such as call block, call rejection, call trap, or call screening. These companies maintain a log of your incoming and upcoming calls, and sometimes, “private numbers” or “restricted” might be listed in the call log. Although it’s not guaranteed, there are possibilities. Reviewing your call log is a way to uncover phone numbers from private calls.

Some companies, like AT&T, allow you to view call logs online. Others may not, but you can always call customer services for more info. Keep in mind that different carriers have different rules, and phone companies may not assist unless the request comes from authorities. So if unknown phone calls make you feel in danger, as in the case of receiving a death threat from a private number², report it to the police immediately. With the court number or police case file, you have a higher chance of finding the information from your phone carrier.

However, based on a Reddit user’s experience, there’s a chance the police may turn you away. Even with repeated calls from private numbers at night, the police deemed it not harassment.³ In such cases, record the calls and inform the caller to stop. With concrete evidence, you may have grounds to file charges again.

The duration of how long these call records or logs are stored differs with each phone service provider. So check your call logs immediately after receiving an unknown call.

Method 3: Use third-party apps/websites

Many spam-blocking apps offer services to help identify caller IDs. Apps like TrueCaller and Spokeo can help deter or block spam calls and spam messages, revealing the caller’s identity to protect users from spamming and scams.

These apps use public sources to identify phone numbers, some utilize crowdsourced databases to identify and flag potential spam or scam calls. Truecaller, in particular, combines community suggestions through its app or website. If a significant number of their customer report a phone number as spam, they label calls from that particular phone number as a “spam call”.

However, most unmasking services only work after installation and cannot reveal caller ID for past calls from private numbers. For instance, a user contacted an unmasking service and received a reply stating that the service only works when private numbers call in real-time.⁴ If you hope for these apps to uncover past phone calls, you may need to install the app and wait for a “No caller ID” phone call to occur again.

If you want to enhance your control over incoming calls, whether by blocking unwanted numbers or gaining insights into the identity of callers with private numbers, there are suggestions for you. It’s important to note that the effectiveness of these apps may vary, so you need to read their introductions carefully to see if they fit your needs. Also, choose a reputable and secure app to ensure privacy and data protection.

Uncover the phone number

When you have the number from the call log, you can trace this phone number by running a reverse phone search. Nowadays, many websites and apps can allow you to track phone numbers easily. There are hundreds of brands and websites trying to promote their products.

We tried 10 popular websites and we’ve found the 3 best phone number tracking services for you. For each of them, you can use either the website or the app to track the phone numbers.

BeenVerified

BeenVerified is one of the top phone number lookup engines available. It combines a vast database of aggregated public data from public records, social media accounts to criminal history information, property records, and more.

Just enter the phone number into the search box below and hit Search. BeenVerified will then search billions of public records for information related to that phone number.

1) Go to BeenVerified and sign up.

2) Go to BeenVerified’s Reverse Phone Lookup page.

3) Type the number and click SEARCH.

4) You’ll obtain the available background information about the caller, including their name, age, location, email addresses, and social media accounts attached to the number.

Spokeo

Spokeo is one of the most powerful phone number-tracking tools you can find. It provides an easy way to find out who’s behind those mysterious unknown numbers and access to names, addresses, social media profiles, court records, criminal records, email addresses, and more.

1) Go to the Spokeo official page.

2) Type in the phone number and hit Search Now.

3) You’ll get a report that contains information associated with the phone number. It may include the full name, age, address, family info carrier details of the caller.

PeopleFinders

PeopleFinders.com is a leading Data-as-a-Service (DaaS) provider that helps you access public data easily. It provides one of the most comprehensive collections of public records data available, so you can get more accurate and refined results.

1) Go to the People Finders official page.

2) Type in the phone number and hit Search.

3) You’ll get the up-to-date information you need about the unknown caller, such as the name, address, and other pertinent background info about the phone number’s owner.

Further step: how to block unknown numbers

If you are harassed by private numbers and unknown numbers, you can block this phone number to keep you safe.

Usually there are 3 ways to block unwanted phone calls.

1. Contact mobile carriers
2. Use built-in mobile device features
3. Add your number on FTC’s National Do Not Call Registry (US only)
4. Use third-party apps

Certain mobile carriers provide options to block specific numbers. Contact your service provider and ask for a call-blocking service. When you’re harassed by private numbers, you can ask the carrier whether it has a certain department that is specifically for harassment, where you can receive assistance.

The US government has an official website to help residents away from nuisance phone calls. Just go to the FTC’s National Do Not Call Registry, add your phone number, and then the government will help block some harassing robocalls.

Also, use your smartphone’s built-in features to block unwanted numbers, or choose a trustworthy and secure third-party app to do the work.

That’s all about how to call back a private number. Hope this post will help. If you have any suggestions or questions, you’re welcome to leave comments below.

1. r/NoStupidQuestions [kalzan]. (2022, August 6). What’s ways can you use to call back a no caller ID number? [Online forum post]. Reddit. https://www.reddit.com/r/NoStupidQuestions/comments/whboo4/comment/ij4q7oi/ ↩︎
2. r/ATT [TheNewLegend380]. (2023, May 22). Just got a death threat from a private number. Any way to trace? [Online forum post]. Reddit. https://www.reddit.com/r/ATT/comments/13oh5bm/just_got_a_death_threat_from_a_private_number_any/ ↩︎
3. r/OSINT [Curious_Case_9669]. (2022, September 7). Figureing out private number. [Online forum post]. Reddit. https://www.reddit.com/r/OSINT/comments/x7xa3n/figureing_out_private_number/ ↩︎
4. The 4×4 Pub [Liaan]. (2009, Octorber 21). Tracing a Private Number. [Online forum post]. 4×4 Community. https://www.4x4community.co.za/forum/showthread.php/43736-Tracing-a-Private-Number/page2 ↩︎