If you received a text message from a random number, and you need to find out who is the person behind it, then, keep reading. You’re not the first one who gets these suspicious messages on cell phones or texting apps. Millions of Americans suffer from this. These mysterious individuals and spammers may send you things like, “Hi”, “Hello”, or something like that.
Luckily, there are different ways to know who that random phone number is with name, location, and even more details when available. Also, I’ll show you what you should do when that happens, even if those numbers are from different countries.
Find out who is behind a random number that texted
Tracing a text message from an unknown number is not that hard these days. However, if with all the next methods, you still get no details and names, then, don’t reply anyway, and avoid being another victim of scams on Craigslist, and other sites.
Random numbers who text you about claiming a prize, a free product, or solving a problem with your credit card, banking, or other things are not going to be more than a fraud. So, be careful and always identify the number first. Then report that person if he looks like a bad guy; that happens a lot in many dating scams.
Use a reverse phone number lookup tool
This is the best way to track down that mystery person who just sent you a text message. It doesn’t matter if it’s a landline or a cell phone number; this method works well in the US.
A good reverse phone number lookup tool should be able to tell you who is behind that text or call and where she or he is. But sometimes, it could take a few minutes of searching to see the real name of that mysterious text sender. You should trace the number to its origin. Also, if you can call it to hear the voice behind it, that could help you identify the person behind it better.
Even if the person behind that random number that texted you knows your name, you should not be worried or reply. That unknown person might get your number or real name from social media, websites, Google, or other ways.
So, don’t just think that because someone texted you and knows your name, you have to reply. He could be a scammer who found your details in dozens of ways, it’s the Internet era.
If a random number texted you from an app, you can click on that message and see the info behind it. Most texting apps show the name of the person or his number, but that also could be fake.
So, try to click the text, and see if you get options from there. Then, copy that exact number and search it through a reverse lookup tool or using the following ways. But in all cases, this is the safest way to find out from where someone is texting you, and who it’s.
Try Facebook
There is always a chance that the same number has texted other people saying “hey” in your local area or even nationwide. So, if that happened, then, you have to use a Facebook search and see what others are saying about that random number and related messages on their phones or instant texting apps.
Many Facebook groups include conversations about random mobile numbers and the name of the scammer behind them. In addition, good guys may want to warn others of a potential scam that’s new to the world, and by sharing the details, others can identify the numbers and protect themselves.
Additionally, you have to ask yourself if your number is associated with any of your online accounts. It’s not just Facebook, but also, YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, and more. If that’s the case, I highly recommend updating all of your login details. That includes passwords and numbers. There are many services offering second phone numbers. That way, you avoid scams related to that in the future. Additionally, when a random phone number calls or texts you from different countries and keeps doing that, it’s spam and probably a scam attempt. So, you need to take action and protect your accounts on social media and websites.
Snapchat
It’s obvious that Snapchat is a fantastic texting app. But what if you can use it to identify that random number that texted you? Yes, that’s possible with Snapchat; if that number is not in your contact list, it’s time to add it with a unique name. So, you can delete it later when you see who they are.
Now, once you add that number to your list of contacts, click on your Snapchat profile icon. Next, try to search for friends using that contact list. Then, Snapchat will show you the Snapchat users who are in your contacts. So, you just need to find that newly added number to see if they’re there.
By doing this, you’ll get the username and display name of that Snapchat user who texted you. Hence, if that tells you nothing, then, search for that same display name in Google or use a good background search tool.
To find out who sent a text message for free, use Google and search for that random phone number. This works well for numbers in North America, Australia, and all the other places. You have the most powerful search engine in the world. And if that number is found somewhere on the Internet, you should see the associated pages and details.
Also, public records can reveal many details about that random number, and it’s recommended to see if other websites have additional details about it. That way, once you see search results on Google that talk about that number or the exact message you received, click on it and see what they have to say.
If you don’t see the number, or it changes randomly, but the message is the same, then try copying the entire text message and pasting it into the Google search. When an unknown number texts the same message over and over again from random numbers, that means others have received the same thing. So other people searched Google and then reported spam or fraud.
Thus, you can tell who that number belongs to, for free. Also, you can see comments or posts about that scam on social media and forums.
Should you reply to that text?
If the text message is talking about offers, promotions, or spam things, then, never reply to them. These are spammers from different states who text from random phone numbers each time. So, when people identify them, they just use other random cell phone numbers that are disposable or virtual and then change that later.
Most of the time, these messages talk about fake offers that are not going to happen. So, if you reply to that text, you’ll send them your IP address and more information.
In addition, these random text senders could be the bad guys who want to get your personal information, like your name, home address, and what you do. Then, they may pretend to be representing authorities, your local bank, or other offices. Scammers do that just to get inside your house or building and steal things, or prepare for that.
That’s not all; even if they send these spam texts, later, they could easily ask you for very sensitive information such as emails, ownership, work, etc. And, of course, you should never reply to them or even think that you’ll get anything from scammers except problems and issues.
On the other hand, if the text seems legitimate and from a good person, then look up that number and see who it is. Once you identify that person, it’s up to you to text them back or not, but as I said, always verify the identity.
You can also ask yourself if that number is saved on your contact list or not. That can help you trace any previous message that number sent to you.
Conclusion
Now, you know that you can easily find out who that random phone number that texted you is. You can also see the name of the person behind it. But always take that seriously, and don’t reply to anyone because he or she texted you on your iPhone, WhatsApp, Messenger, or any other texting method.
If you see that the number is strange to you, then, search for its extension and see the country behind it with Google. But anyway, it’s not worth wasting time with such spam, and you can just report the number and block it if you want.
