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Unknown calls can be a nuisance and sometimes even worrying. We’ll show you how you can easily identify callers and which tools and apps can help you avoid unwanted calls and protect your privacy.
Identifying unknown callers: Finding a phone number using an online search
If you’ve received a call from an unknown number and want to find out who’s behind it, you can carry out a reverse look-up online.
- Suitable websites include, for example, Das Örtliche or DasTelefonbuch. Simply enter the phone number there. However, many numbers are not listed, as the caller must have opted in to have their contact details published on the site.
- Another option is the traditional search via Google or portals such as Tellows or 11880.com. This method is particularly helpful for marketing calls, as these numbers often already have a number of poor reviews. Here, too, simply enter the unknown number into the search field and, once the search has started, you will see who the number belongs to.
- As well as websites, there are also specialised apps such as Truecaller that provide information about the caller. To use them, simply install the app and then search for the number. Please note that such apps can be problematic from a data protection perspective, as they gain access to your address book.
Telephone number: Identification via voicemail
To identify the caller behind a number, you can also ring their voicemail directly. This way, the phone won’t ring at their end and you’ll be able to hear the voicemail greeting. The owner’s name is often mentioned here.
- To call the voicemail directly, you need to find out which provider is associated with the number. You can do this by checking the area code.
- When you ring back, all you need to do is insert the voicemail code between the area code and the number. This varies depending on the provider. For O2 and E-Plus it is 33, for Vodafone 50, and for Telekom 13.
- So, if it’s a Vodafone number, for example 0174 50 12345678. Also, don’t forget to hide your number when calling back.
Blocking calls from unknown numbers: Here’s how
If you generally do not wish to receive calls from unknown numbers, you can block them. This can be useful, for example, on mobile phones for children.
- If you have an iPhone, open Settings and look for ‘Phone’. Tap on it and then tap ‘Silence Unknown Callers’. In the next step, you can enable the option using a slider.
- If you have an Android smartphone, open the Phone app, tap the three dots in the top right-hand corner and select ‘Settings’. Tap ‘Block numbers’ and use the slider to enable ‘Block unknown callers’ if you do not wish to receive calls from unknown numbers.
- Important to note: If you enable the blocking function, you will no longer receive any calls from numbers you do not recognise. So it’s not just marketing calls that will be blocked; important calls may also be blocked as a result. To avoid this, block specific numbers individually or use smart spam filter apps.
