How Scammers Find Your Phone Number — And What You Can Do About It
You keep getting scam calls and texts, and you wonder how they got your number. The answer is a combination of data breaches, public records, social media profiles, and data brokers who sell your information for pennies. This guide explains exactly how your number ends up in scammer databases and what steps reduce your exposure.
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How Your Number Ends Up in Scammer Databases
Your Phone Number Is Probably Already in Multiple Databases
Your phone number is likely available through data breaches, data brokers, and public records. Understanding how reduces your exposure.
Note: This guide covers phone and text scams, not email. If you received a suspicious email, forward it to check@scam.support for a free risk assessment. For phone scams, report to the FTC — see all reporting agencies.
You keep getting scam calls and texts, and you wonder how they got your number. The answer involves several sources, and your number is likely in many databases already.
1. Data Breaches
When companies experience data breaches, customer databases containing phone numbers are leaked and sold on dark web marketplaces. Major breaches at companies like Equifax (2017, affecting 147 million people), T-Mobile (2021-2023, affecting over 37 million customers), and many others have exposed billions of phone numbers.
2. Data Brokers
Companies called data brokers legally collect and sell personal information, including phone numbers. They compile data from public records, social media profiles, store loyalty programs, online purchases, and other sources. Your phone number may be available for purchase for pennies.
3. Social Media Profiles
If your phone number is visible on your Facebook, LinkedIn, or other social media profiles, scammers can scrape it. Even "friends only" visibility is not fully secure if your account is compromised.
4. Public Records
Property records, voter registrations, court records, and business filings often include phone numbers and are publicly accessible.
5. Random Dialing and Autodialers
Some scammers simply auto-dial every possible number in a sequence. If your number is in an active area code, it will eventually be called.
What You Can Do to Reduce Exposure
What To Do
- Remove your phone number from social media profiles (Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram)
- Opt out of major data brokers — search for your name on sites like Spokeo, WhitePages, and BeenVerified and request removal
- Register on the Do Not Call Registry (donotcall.gov in the US, lnnte-dncl.gc.ca in Canada)
- Use a secondary phone number for online forms and accounts
- Enable call screening on your phone (Silence Unknown Callers on iPhone, spam filter on Android)
Data Broker Opt-Out Steps
Removing your number from data brokers takes time but reduces scam calls:
- Search for yourself on Spokeo.com, WhitePages.com, BeenVerified.com, Intelius.com, and PeopleFinder.com
- Follow each site's opt-out or removal process
- This may need to be repeated periodically as your data gets re-added
- Consider a paid service like DeleteMe or Privacy Duck that handles opt-outs for you
Report Scam Calls
Sources
- FTC Consumer Advice — What To Know About People Search Sites That Sell Your Information
- FTC — Equifax Data Breach Settlement
- FTC — National Do Not Call Registry