How do I find out who called or texted me?

Before you call or text back, look the number up: you'll see its carrier, line type, caller ID name on file, and any scam or spam reports. If the caller asked you to ring back, use a number you find yourself, such as the one on your account statement.

What should you do before you call back?

A missed call from a number you don't recognize is easy to return on reflex. Wait a minute first. It helps to know one thing up front: a lookup describes the number, not the person, so it won't identify who dialed or tell you where they were.

1. Hold off. The FCC's advice is not to answer or return calls from numbers you don't recognize. 2. Read the area code. Some international numbers look like US ones. The FCC gives 649 (Turks and Caicos) and 809 (the Dominican Republic) as examples, and warns that calling one back can bring connection and per-minute charges. 3. Look the number up. Share it from your call log into the Lookup Pass app, or run it in any browser. The next section covers what comes back. 4. Set aside the callback number in a voicemail. If the message says it's your bank, a company or a government office, get the number from your account statement or from that organization's own website, and call that instead. That is the FCC's advice, and the FTC says the same about calls that claim to come from the government.

What does a lookup show about the number?

Whatever US number rang you, the lookup comes back with four things:

• The carrier. Which company carries the number's calls today, and which carries its texts. These are the current ones, not whichever carrier the number started with.
• The line type. Whether it's mobile, a landline, or a VoIP (internet) line.
• The caller ID name on file, if the number has one. Treat it as a clue about the number, not proof of who dialed you.
• Scam and spam reports. Different reporting sources use different rules. A label is a warning about the number, not proof of who called.

Here is where that helps. Say you missed a call from a number with your own area code. The FTC calls this pattern neighbor spoofing: scammers borrow your area code, and often the first six digits of your own number, so a stranger's call looks local. If the lookup comes back as an internet line that people have reported for scams, you know something the screen didn't tell you, and you can leave the call unreturned.

What about a text from a number you don't know?

Leave the message alone while you check. The FCC says not to respond to texts from unknown numbers and never to tap links in them. If a text claims to come from a business you use, find that business's number yourself and call it.

The same lookup works on a number that texted you. The Lookup Pass app on Google Play takes a number shared straight from a text or your call log, and it never reads your contacts, call history or messages. You can also run lookups in any browser and add Lookup Pass to your home screen.

What can't a lookup tell you?

A lookup reports on a number. It can't put a name to the person holding that phone, and it can't say where anyone is.

It also can't vouch for a caller. When nothing comes back, the number simply hasn't been reported by anyone. That is not the same as safe.

And it describes the number on your screen. The FTC warns that scammers can dress up caller ID with any name or number, which is called spoofing. When that happens, your results describe the faked number, not the person who actually rang you. That is why the callback step above matters: the number you find yourself is the one to use.