This is how you can identify unknown numbers

Calls from unknown numbers can often hide spam or phishing attacks. But with a few simple tricks you can also look up a cell phone number and find out the owner of the unknown number.

The number of unwanted calls has risen sharply in recent years. This is also reflected in the number of complaints received by the Federal Network Agency due to telephone advertising.

This has more than doubled in the ten years between 2011 and 2021. While around 30,000 complaints were received by the German authorities in 2011, by 2021 there were already almost 80,000.

But what can you do to avoid unwanted advertising calls or phishing over the phone? The easiest way to do this is to assign the telephone number. We’ll show you how to look up an unknown cell phone number.

Search cell phone number via google

The easiest way to find the owner of an unknown cell phone number is to use the search engine. But here too, a few things should be noted.

When searching for a phone number via Google, the input is particularly important. It is best to always enter a telephone number in quotation marks.

Otherwise it can happen that the search engine only accesses fragments and not the entire sequence of numbers. If there is a spam call behind the phone number, this will also quickly become apparent via a Google search.

Unknown number: reverse search in the phone book

Online phone books offer another way of searching. Here you can not only search for names and the assigned cell phone numbers.

Because most of these sites also offer a reverse search to find out the owner of a number. This works for Das Örtliche, for example, but other reverse searches can also be found in no time at all with a Google search.

Search cell phone numbers: WhatsApp can also help

Another way to identify a cell phone number is WhatsApp. Here, too, you may be able to obtain information about the caller.

All you have to do is save the corresponding cell phone number in your contacts. You can then find them on WhatsApp and – depending on the settings of the caller – access their name, contact information and profile picture if necessary.

Call voicemail to look up cell phone number

Oh, a call to voice mail might be revealing. Because there is a way that you can easily land with a call directly to the other person’s mailbox.

All you have to do is enter a code in the phone number. This consists of a two-digit number and depends on the cell phone provider of the person called.

• T-Mobile 13
• O2 33
• Vodafone 50

To do this, you must enter the appropriate code between the provider’s area code and the remaining number according to the pattern 0151 CODE 1234567. This will take you straight to the mailbox and you can use the recorded message to find the owner of the number.

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