scammer phone number lookup

Is This a Scam Number? The Most Reliable Methods to Find Out

It doesn’t take a genius to realize that scams are everywhere. Phone scams seem to be in a huge upward spiral, which is why distinguishing legit calls from scammers is becoming increasingly important.

We’re here to introduce you to the best methods for conducting scammer phone number lookup to help you protect yourselves. Our primary goal is to find the necessary tools and teach you how to use them to your advantage. So, let’s kick things off by examining why phone scams are on the rise and what makes them so popular to begin with!

Table Of Contents

Why Scams via Phone Calls are Increasing

The main reason why scams via phone calls are on the rise is because they ought to be working. Modern technology allows shady individuals to program armies of bots targeting senior citizens and exploit them for sensible information such as personal identification numbers and credit card details.

The Rise of Phone Scams

In 2025, fraud losses increased by 25% compared to the previous year. That’s why an increasing number of people are struggling with the same question: Is this a scam number in my missed calls list?

The rapid growth in AI technology has paved the way for massive advancements in this area, meaning users now have an even harder time figuring scams out. Long gone are the days of obvious bots on the other end of the conversation.

Thanks to AI technology, modern scam bots talk just like real humans. It’s an eerie thought, but one that has become a reality and is making the lives of our elderly citizens that much harder.

The stats suggest that Americans lost roughly $39.5 billion to phone scams in 2022 alone. That’s quite the increase from the approximately $29.8 billion they lost a year earlier (in 2021). In other words, if you can’t keep up with the technology and educate your elderlies, their (and your) finances could be at great risk… And that’s exactly where scammer number check tools come into play.

Common Scam Tactics

Here are the five most common scam tactics cybercriminals use to steal your data and money:

Smishing Attacks

The most common smishing attacks are executed as either phone calls or SMS impersonating a package delivery service. They demand the victim pay an additional (oftentimes minuscule) payment for last-mile shipping but lead them to a scam website that steals their banking details.

Voice Deepfakes

Elderly people are way too easily fooled by voice deepfakes, which is why we recommend you introduce them to check scam number tools. Imagine this scenario – a scammer generates a voice deepfake of a local politician and calls prominent party members over the age of 55, nicely asking for a small $100 loan.

Charity Scams

These are on the rise too. These scammers basically call you while acting like a charity. They use emotional pressure on their victims to lure them into sending them money, thinking it’s for a good cause.

Impersonation

This is when the scammers call their victim and impersonate government officials like IRS or social security agents to trick them into thinking they’ve done something wrong and have to pay a fine.

The main reasons why some of these scam tactics are so popular is because they add a personal touch. That’s why so many people are looking up phone number scam checker after seeing suspicious phone calls in their logs.

Identify Unknown Numbers Safely

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Is This Phone Number a Scammer? Warning Signs 

Scammers have advanced measures to ensure their calls go through. They can call you from your own area code and your national numbers or even mimic a government agency’s name to appear as their caller ID.

But these are the most advanced cybercriminals out there. Most don’t have the budget for these advanced tricks. To figure out is this a scam number calling you, we recommend you check the following:

  • Calls coming from international numbers or random area codes.
  • Robotic voice that doesn’t answer any of your questions and sticks to the script.
  • Obviously fake caller ID that you know would never appear that way (f.e. IRS).
  • Requesting personal or financial information right away, with no safety standards.

Using Paid Tools Like Scannero to Check Scammer Phone Number

Scammers are the plague of today’s modern world, and there’s no point in denying that. Luckily, there’s a simple way to tackle this issue. More precisely, you can use tools like Scannero to check scammer phone number quickly and efficiently.

According to our tests, Scannero’s reverse number lookup will provide you with the basic information about the number you’re interested in. This will help you tackle suspicious calls and texts and help you learn the scammers’ patterns, thus keeping your personal and banking information safe.

Here’s what the process looks like:

  1. Purchase the Scannero app to gain access to its phone number scam checker right now.
  2. Head over to Scannero’s Reverse Number Lookup tool and enter the phone number you’re interested in.
  3. Click on the orange “Start Search” button and let the app do its thing. It might take a few seconds for it to finish searching.
  4. Viola – the app will provide you with basic details about the owner of the number and its carrier.

Mind you, Scannero provides a bunch of other useful features. It even allows you to track your child’s phone number without them knowing, which isn’t exactly the most moral thing to do, but could save your child’s life.

Free Methods to Identify Scam Phone Numbers

We don’t want you to feel pressured into buying Scannero, although it really is the best method to check scam numbers that we know of. However, there are completely free alternatives, too, though they’ll usually take longer and require a bit of web-surfing know-how.

Search Engine Lookup

The simplest way to start is to do a quick Google search for the number that’s calling you. If there’s a call ID, the first result should be the company’s name next to the phone number. If it’s not, then it’s likely a scam call.

If there’s no call ID, just the number, a quick Google search will help you find out whether or not other people Googled it.

There are free phone lookup websites too. Feel free to give them a try if nothing else works. If they don’t provide valid answers either, take our advice and buy Scannero. It’s the only tool that’s bound to provide legit data!

Is This a Scam Number? Сheck Social Media and Forums to Find Out

check scammer phone number

Another way to figure out if you’re getting calls from a scammer is to check the number on Reddit, forums, and other social media. Here are the best places to look for information on whether or not that phone number is an actual scammer:

  • Reddit. Reddit really is the front page of the internet nowadays. It’s far better than Google for most things, simply because it’s a place where people like you and me share their personal experiences with scammer phone number lookup tools. Lots of subreddits actively work on cracking phone scammers and leave massive lists of proven-to-be scammers numbers.
  • Facebook. There are lots of Facebook groups that people use to share their experiences with scammers. An integral part of these posts is comments, typically packed with scammers’ phone numbers.

Reverse Phone Lookup Websites

There are lots of websites that offer scam checker phone number tools. Most of them are free but provide premium versions with additional functionalities. They aren’t the fastest, nor do they have the biggest database of scam numbers, but they’re a great starting point and work well in combination with a premium tool like Scannero.

Use Built-In Phone Features

We know for a fact many Samsung and Xiaomi phones have built-in features that either block calls by scammers or notify you that the caller might be a scammer and urge you to think twice before accepting the call.

What to Do After Identifying a Scam Number?

After your scammer number check returned with a positive result for a scam, the next thing you should do is simply block the number. All modern smartphones have the “block number” option, which will prevent further calls from the same number.

However, this phone number scammer lookup wouldn’t be such a popular search term if that’s the end of the story. Unfortunately, if you block one number, you will still receive fraudulent calls from other numbers. It’s a never-ending cycle and is en route to becoming an annoying part of our day-to-day lives.

Conclusion

If you came here looking for an answer on how to check scam phone numbers, the clear-cut answer would be to use Scannero. It’s a premium app you have to purchase, so it does come at a cost.

But, in its defense, it allows instant access to its scam phone numbers check tool, which is a lifesaver. For the best results, we recommend you combine free alternatives like search engine lookup and checking on Reddit and other social media platforms with Scannero’s Reverse Phone Number Lookup tool.

Identify Unknown Numbers Safely

Find out who's calling in 1 click

Nicklaus Borer
Greetings. I am a journalist and a computer engineer. I am engaged in research in the field of security, data and their publication on this blog.