A Call From an Unknown Number Is Nothing to Fear
Once you start using a smartphone, calls will arrive from numbers you do not know. Who can that be? Ought I to answer? The uncertainty is uncomfortable, but deal with it calmly and all will be well.
Calls from unknown numbers fall broadly into three patterns.
- A wrong number - somebody simply pressed the wrong digits
- A sales or solicitation call - a firm that wants to sell you something
- A fraud call - a criminal trying to trick you out of money or personal information
There is of course also the chance that the call is perfectly legitimate: a hospital, your school, a friend's new number. What matters is judging the matter without getting flustered.
The Basic Rule: You Need Not Answer
There is nothing wrong with letting a call from an unknown number go unanswered. If the business really is important, the caller will do one of the following.
- Leave a message on your voicemail
- Ring you again
- Tell you what it is about by text message, that is to say SMS
A call that comes once and leaves nothing behind is almost always a sales call or a wrong number. You can safely put it out of your mind.
Try Searching the Number
Searching the internet for the number that called you will often reveal where the call came from.
- Copy the number from your call history (press and hold the number)
- Search for it in your browser (searching for 0312345678, for instance)
- The results show you a company name, or comments left by other people
Where the comments describe it as a nuisance call or a fraud call, do not return the call. Where a company name appears, stop and think about whether you have any dealings with that company. A phone number lookup service such as this one lets you see the reports other users have left, gathered in one place. Our article on how to deal with calls from a withheld number is worth reading too.
What the Start of a Number Tells You
A glance at the opening digits of a phone number is enough to give you a fair idea of what sort of call it is. Knowing this gives you something to go on when a call comes in.
- 03, 06 and the like: landline numbers. Calls from businesses and shops make up most of them
- 090, 080, 070: mobile phone numbers. Quite likely a call from a private individual
- 050: IP telephone numbers. Often used for corporate call centres and for sales calls
- 0120, 0800: toll-free numbers. A call from a company, and returning it costs you nothing
- 0570: Navi Dial. Take care - returning such a call is expensive
If you would like to know more about the different kinds of number, have a look at how caller ID works.
What to Do if You Have Answered
Even if you have answered a call from a number you do not know, there is no need to panic. Simply take care over the following.
Do not give your own name
Rather than "Hai, [your name] desu" (Yes, this is so-and-so speaking), answer with nothing more than "Hai" (yes). The cardinal rule is to give away nothing about yourself until you know who the caller is.
Refuse if you are asked for personal information
If you are asked for your name, your address, the name of your school or details about your family, refuse: "O-kotae dekimasen" (I am not able to answer that). A caller with legitimate business does not ask for personal information out of the blue. Not telling a stranger anything personal is essential to protecting your phone number privacy.
Hang up at once if it feels wrong
Please transfer the money. You must complete the procedure right now. If you hear something suspect of that kind, hang up straight away. Ending a call partway through is not rude. Your own safety comes first.
A recording is reassuring
Where you have answered a call that seems suspicious, recording it gives you evidence afterwards. Some Android models have call recording built in as standard. On the iPhone, certain models support it from iOS 18 onwards. With a recording to hand you can describe exactly what happened when you consult a parent or the police.
Points to Watch When Returning a Call
Where you do return a call to a number you do not know, take care over the following.
- Search for the number first and establish where the call came from
- Do not return calls to numbers beginning 0570 (Navi Dial) or 0990 (premium information services), as the call charge becomes very large
- Do not return calls to foreign numbers, those beginning with a plus sign
- If you return the call and nobody answers, do not keep trying
Getting into the habit of searching for a number before you return the call helps keep you clear of phone fraud. Never return a call to a number that a search describes as a nuisance call. It is worth looking at how to see off nuisance calls as well.
Reduce Nuisance Calls Through Your Phone's Settings
To cut down the number of calls you receive from unknown numbers, go through your phone's settings.
- iPhone: go to Settings, then Phone, then turn on Silence Unknown Callers, and calls from numbers not saved in your contacts will no longer ring. They are forwarded to voicemail, so you will not miss an important call altogether
- Android: in the settings of the Google Phone app, turn on spam filtering for nuisance calls, and a warning is displayed for any number that may be a nuisance call
You can change these settings again at any time, so do try them. Learning how to set up call rejection as well lets you block a particular nuisance number precisely.
Learn the Common Nuisance Call Patterns
Nuisance calls follow a few typical patterns. Knowing them in advance lets you keep a cool head when a call arrives.
- One-ring calls: the phone rings once and stops. The trick is to make you call back and earn money from the call charge. Never return such a call
- Automated voice calls: a recorded message telling you that there is an unpaid charge, or that your bank account is about to be frozen. Every one of them is a fraud. Hang up at once
- Calls posing as a survey: the caller asks you to help with a short survey and draws personal information out of you. Do not give your name or address
Talk to a Parent or an Adult You Trust
When you cannot decide what to make of a call, the best thing is to talk to a parent or an adult you trust. Simply saying that you have had a call like this is enough to get you sound advice.
Where you have had a call of the following kinds in particular, always tell an adult.
- Money was mentioned
- You were told to keep it to yourself
- You were asked for personal information
- The call frightened you
There is no need to shoulder it alone. Ringing the police consultation line (#9110) lets you seek advice even anonymously.
Summary
A call from a number you do not know need not be answered. Even if you do answer, you are safe so long as you keep to three rules: do not give your name, do not give personal information, and hang up if anything feels wrong. When in doubt, search for the number or talk to an adult. Make use of your phone's nuisance-call filtering settings too, and you can go on using your smartphone with confidence. Getting the basics of managing your phone number privacy under your belt is more reassuring still.