How to tell who’s calling when you don’t recognize the phone number

Ever received a text message from a number you don’t recognize? I get a lot of texts from numbers that I have no idea who that person is. Instead of replying with “Ahem, who dis?” there’s a hack you’re going to use time and time again.

TikTokker Liz Perez put it on her channel and it blew up. If you get a text from an unknown number, mobile payment apps like Venmo, CashApp, Zelle or PayPal can help you put a name to that number.

• Copy and paste the number into the app and the mystery sender’s name might just be unveiled. 

I tested this out on a number that I knew someone had a Venmo. Their name popped up.

Now, this hack only works if you have an account with one of those mobile payment apps, and the sender has to use their real name and number in the app. But hey, it’s better than shooting in the dark, right?

And there is the flip side. Be sure to disable your mobile payment app from sharing your name and phone number with other people. The steps vary from app to app. For example, in Venmo, open Settings, Friends and Social and toggle off Phone contacts.

What about blocked numbers?

Dialing *67 conceals your number from someone you call. There are similar numbers you can dial to respond to mystery callers.

The first is *69, which traces the number of the last person who called you. It works even for anonymous or hidden calls, so you can get the phone number and exact time they called. Once you have that number, you can block it on your phone so it can’t call you anymore.

There are more codes and secrets you can use to hunt down who called. Tap or click here to check them out.