Getting some creepy calls - is there a way to find out who it is?

January 30, 2015 1:17 PM

Recently I have been getting random calls asking me for personal information in connection to business things which are private. When I ask whom is calling they hang up. This is to a private number I only give out to a handful of people. Is there a service online which will give me the name of the person associated with a number? (Based in Canada).
posted by audio to Computers & Internet (10 answers total)

Have you used Canada411 to do a reverse lookup on the number?
posted by swimming naked when the tide goes out at 1:18 PM on January 30, 2015

If you haven't already, start with just Googling the phone number. It definitely won't get everything, but you can find out who owns a lot of numbers that way.
posted by brainmouse at 1:19 PM on January 30, 2015 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Nothing on Canada411 or Google.

Perhaps are there legit services where you can pay for such answers?
posted by audio at 1:23 PM on January 30, 2015

You can find out if other people are receiving annoying calls from the same number at sites like http://www.whocalledme.com/ and http://whocallsme.com/. The Better Business Bureau also has some advice, though they admit that stopping unwanted calls isn’t easy.
posted by ubiquity at 1:31 PM on January 30, 2015 [2 favorites]

Not a full solution, but you could start screening your calls.

"Hello, is Audio there?"
"Can I ask whose calling"
[some awful answer]
"Can I ask what this is regarding?"
[some answer]
...

Another thought is to call the phone number that's calling you (perhaps from a pay-phone or caller-ID block your phone). If its a business they might answer with their business name, and then you can do more googling on that business.

Good luck.
posted by el io at 1:46 PM on January 30, 2015

In the US, depending on level of creepiness, you could call the cops. I can't think of a reason a legitimate company would not give their information, reason for calling, or hang up when questioned. They are either fishing for information to use in fraud or something worse, so I don't think I'd hesitate to at lest report it. The authorities may already have complaints about this number.

I recently had a company doing this to me, but I knew they were a collection agency. They weren't after me, but they wouldn't give up and they would accept I wasn't the person they were looking for. I finally invoked the name of my lawyer and the calls stopped.
posted by cjorgensen at 1:48 PM on January 30, 2015

Block the number if your service allows you to do that.
posted by HuronBob at 2:00 PM on January 30, 2015

Your iPhone can block numbers, if you have an iPhone.
posted by oceanjesse at 2:02 PM on January 30, 2015

Can you port the number to Google Voice? It won't help you determine who's calling - but it's great for blocking unwanted (unidentified) callers.
posted by unmake at 12:08 AM on February 1, 2015

Is it possible to record a suitable outgoing message? (For the past decade or so, our message has been "Hi, you've reached [555-555-1212]. If you're not a telemarketer, please leave a message and we'll pick up because that's the only way you'll get through. Otherwise, please remove us from your call list. Thanks!")
posted by Lexica at 6:57 PM on February 1, 2015