Why Your Number Was Reported as Spam (And How to Fix It)

Download Article

Learn ways to stop your phone number from being flagged as spam when calling and texting

Written by Nicole Levine, MFA

Last Updated: September 21, 2024 Fact Checked

Download Article

Why Your Number Was Reported as Spam

|

Fixing a Business Number

|

Fixing a Personal Number

Does your phone number appear as Spam, Spam Risk, or Scam Likely when you call friends and family? If your number shows up as spam, it may be because people reported the person or business who previously owned the phone number. This guide will explain the most likely reasons your number was flagged as spam and what you can do to fix it.

Why Your Number Was Reported as Spam

If your number shows up as Spam Risk or Scam Likely, it's usually because the person who had the number before you made suspicious calls. You can fix this by registering your phone number through Free Call Registry, Hiya, TNS, and your provider directly.

Section 1 of 3:

Reasons Your Number Was Reported as Spam

Download Article

If you operate a business and place a high number of outbound calls to different numbers in a short period of time, your activity may look suspicious to your phone provider.^{[1]
X
Research source} It's also possible the people you're calling are marking your calls as spam and blocking them.
If you're a seller or telemarketer, your number could be reported as spam if too many of your calls are disconnected too soon, either by you or the people you are calling.^{[2]
X
Trustworthy Source

Federal Trade Commission
Independent U.S. government agency focused on consumer protection

Go to source}

Advertisement
If you recently got a new phone number and your calls show up as Spam, Spam Risk, or Scam Likely, the previous owner likely used the number to place spam calls. If enough people report calls from the number as spam, it'll be added to lists of spam phone numbers blocked by phone providers and in apps like Nomorobo and Robokiller. Because phone numbers are recycled so often, this is more common than you'd think.
4
A scammer spoofed your phone number. Scammers often use caller ID spoofing to hide their identities from those they attempt to defraud. If a scammer or spam caller edited their caller ID information to display your phone number instead of their own, people may have reported your number as spam.
- If you think somebody is spoofing your phone number, the FCC recommends filing a report.^{[3]
  X
  Trustworthy Source
  
  Federal Communications Commission
  Independent U.S. government agency responsible for regulating radio, television, and satellite, and phone communications
  
  Go to source}

Section 2 of 3:

How to Remove a Business Phone Number from Spam Lists

Download Article

1
Register your phone number with the Free Call Registry. The Free Call Registry is a partnership among multiple anti-robocall agencies (First Orion, Hiya, and Transaction Network Services) that makes it easy for businesses to mark their phone numbers as legitimate. If your phone number is used for business purposes, go to https://www.freecallerregistry.com/fcr/ and click Register Here to add it.
- During registration, you'll be asked to provide your name, phone number, address, business information, and the number of calls you plan to make each month.^{[4]
  X
  Research source}
- Once your request is processed, you'll receive confirmation from the three agencies.
2
Send a request to Verizon Voice Spam Feedback. If your business is having trouble calling Verizon phone numbers, you can fill out the form at https://voicespamfeedback.com/vsf/.
- Under "I am providing feedback about," check the box next to "My calls to Verizon phone numbers are being incorrectly categorized, labeled, or blocked."
- Choose whether your phone number is for business or personal use.
- Fill out and submit the form.
If your business's phone number doesn't stop showing up as a spam call after removing it from spam lists, contact your phone provider to let them know about the problem. As long as your outgoing calls are found to be legitimate, your provider should be able to remove the block.

Section 3 of 3:

How to Remove a Personal Phone Number from Spam Lists

Download Article

1
Submit your phone number to TNS Call Guardian. If your personal phone number was reported as spam, you can request to have it unblocked by TNS (Transaction Network Services), an agency many apps and phone providers use to label and block spam calls. To get unblocked:
- Go to https://reportarobocall.com/trf/.
- Scroll down and select My Personal Phone Number at the bottom.
- Choose whether you're submitting an issue with your wireless or wired line.
- Select My telephone number was mislabeled as spam.
- Click Next and fill out the form.
2
Submit your phone number to Hiya. Hiya is a service used by AT&T Call Protect and Samsung Smart Call to protect users from spam calls.^{[5]
X
Research source} You can register your phone number with Hiya directly to remove it from the list of spam numbers.
- Go to https://hiyahelp.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/requests/new?ticket_form_id=824667.
- Select "There is a problem with the information shown for a phone number" from the first drop-down menu.
- Enter your information, then select Person (Number makes no business calls) from the menu.
- Check the box next to "I believe my number is wrongly flagged as spam" and complete the rest of the form.
3
Send a request to T-Mobile Call Reporting. If T-Mobile users are seeing "Scam Likely" when you call them, you can report your phone number as misidentified at https://callreporting.t-mobile.com. This form is for T-Mobile customers, but you can also fill it out if you recently called a T-Mobile user.
- On the form, select Not a Scam Likely call, and then choose I know the caller personally.
- Fill out the requested information in the form, including the date on which the T-Mobile user saw "Scam Likely" when you called.
4
Send a request to Verizon Voice Spam Feedback. If you find that your phone number is labeled as a spam risk when calling Verizon phone numbers, you can fill out the form at https://voicespamfeedback.com/vsf/.
- Under "I am providing feedback about," check the box next to "My calls to Verizon phone numbers are being incorrectly categorized, labeled, or blocked."
- Choose whether your phone number is for business or personal use.
- Fill out and submit the form.
If your cell or home phone number doesn't stop showing up as a spam call after removing it from spam lists, contact your mobile or residential phone provider to let them know about the problem. As long as your outgoing calls are found to be legitimate, your provider should be able to remove the block.