Although it’s seriously annoying, receiving calls from unknown numbers is, more often than not, a common occurrence for many people.
While phone numbers tend to appear when receiving a call, you’ll likely have seen a No Caller ID or Unknown Caller listed instead.
As ‘No Caller ID’ or ‘Unknown Caller’ appears without an accompanying phone number, this can be troubling, as you don’t know who is trying to contact you. It could be another annoying scam attempt or an important business call.
We’ve detailed the differences between No Caller ID and Unknown to help you better screen your calls and avoid missing a potentially important conversation due to fear that it’s a spam caller.
What is No Caller ID?
If, in lieu of a phone number, you see “No Caller ID” when receiving a call, this means the caller has purposely hidden their number. While this may seem strange, this is a common method used by organisations and businesses to manage how others can contact them. Most commonly, organisations hiding their number are usually the likes of telemarketers or fundraisers.
It’s also possible for individuals to hide their number via their smartphone’s settings. This can be done for a number of reasons, like if you’re using your personal phone for work calls and don’t want to share your number with colleagues.
Having said that, it’s thought that scammers use this function to their advantage, concealing their identity in order to pull off a scam and avoid detection. So, unless you’re expecting a call, still make sure you tread lightly when answering a call from No Caller ID.
What is an Unknown Caller?
An Unknown Caller title is less suspicious, as it essentially means your network provider isn’t able to identify who’s trying to get hold of you. This could be for a number of reasons, from someone calling from abroad and your provider not recognising the foreign ID, to a simple network issue.
In fact, even if a phone number is saved in your contacts and known to you, there’s still a chance that it could appear as Unknown, simply due to a network issue that’s out of your and the caller’s control.
What is the difference between Unknown and No Caller ID?
The main difference between an Unknown number and a No Caller ID is that the latter has deliberately hidden its phone number when making the call. An Unknown number, on the other hand, just means your network provider, for one reason or another, isn’t able to determine the number calling you.
If you have a Pixel phone, then you can also enable Pixel Call Screen, which automatically determines potential spam or fake numbers. Not only that, but you will also be notified of a first-time caller too, which is especially useful if you’re expecting a call from someone new.
Can you call back a No Caller ID?
If someone has used No Caller ID to intentionally prevent you from seeing their number, it’s not possible to call them back.
While third-party apps are available that promise to reveal a hidden number, allowing you to call them back, we haven’t reviewed these ourselves, so we would be cautious about recommending them.
How do you find out who a No Caller ID is?
Unfortunately, there is no easy way to find out the number behind a ‘No Caller ID’ call. As mentioned earlier, while there are third-party apps that promise to reveal hidden numbers, we can’t verify how good they actually are.
If you’re receiving numerous nuisance phone calls with No Caller ID, you should contact your network provider, who can look into identifying the number and preventing any further calls. In extreme circumstances, the police can also identify the number.
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