How to check a suspicious number or email
If a call, text, or email set off your gut, searching it here is a solid first move. A match means other people flagged the same contact. But here is the honest part: no match does not mean safe. Scammers burn through numbers and addresses fast, spinning up new ones daily, so treat this list as one signal and pair it with the warning signs below.
The caller ID on your screen proves nothing
Scam call centers use internet calling to display any number they want, including the real published line of the IRS, your bank, or a neighbor down the street. This is called spoofing. A trusted looking number can still be a stranger overseas. Judge the call by what they ask you to do, never by the number.
Email works the same way. A message can show a familiar company name while the real address behind it is gibberish. Fake invoices for Norton, McAfee, Amazon, and Geek Squad renewals are dressed up with logos and order numbers for one reason: to get you to call the support line printed on them. That support line is the trap.
Signs a call or email is a scam
- Pressure to act this second, with threats of arrest, fines, deportation, or a closed account.
- A demand for gift cards, wire transfer, cryptocurrency, or mailed cash.
- A request to install remote access software, or to read back a code sent to your phone.
- Instructions to stay on the line while you drive to a store, and to tell no one.
- An offer to refund money, followed by a claim that they accidentally sent too much.
What to do with a scam number
Never dial a number from a popup or warning message. If it claims to be your bank, use the number on your card instead.
Blocking helps for a day. They rotate numbers, so blocking alone will not stop the calls.
Reporting to the FTC and FCC feeds the databases carriers use to block future robocalls, so a two minute report protects other people too.
Forward scam texts to 7726
On any US carrier you can forward a spam text to 7726, which spells SPAM on the keypad. It alerts your carrier to the sender at no cost to you.
Why we do not publish a giant live number list
You may notice this database leans on scam patterns and campaigns rather than a massive dump of live phone numbers. That is deliberate. Because scammers spoof numbers, the number that called you very often belongs to a real, innocent person who has no idea their line was used. Publishing thousands of those as confirmed scammers would smear victims and would be out of date within days, since the numbers rotate constantly. Documenting how each scam behaves protects you far better than a stale blocklist ever could. If you have your own logged harassment number with a clear story behind it, send it in and it can be reviewed and added with context.
Other places to look up a number or email
Because scam numbers rotate so fast, the best check often combines several live databases. These independent tools let you paste a number or email and see what other people have reported. Cross reference a few, and remember that a clean result never guarantees safety.
To add a number or email to this database, or to request a correction, see the About and reporting page. Full agency contacts for US consumers live there too.