How do I find out who texted me?

Don't reply yet; look up the number, which shows its carrier, line type, any caller ID name on file, and whether people have reported it. Leave the link alone, and contact the person or company yourself through a number or website you already know is theirs.

What should you hold off on?

Until you know who sent it, leave three things alone: the reply box, the link, and any phone number written in the message. The FTC says not to reply to a text you weren't expecting and not to tap its links. The FCC gives the same advice for texts from numbers you don't know or ones that seem suspicious.

Everything in the message came from the sender, including the name they claim and the link they want you to open. Even the number at the top can be faked: the FTC has warned that scammers send people texts that show the reader's own phone number as the sender.

How do you check the number?

1. Copy the number out of the text. 2. Look it up in your browser. Lookup Pass takes any US number and works in any browser. It reads the carrier network live, the moment you run the check, and then looks the number up in national scam and spam reporting. On Android there's a shortcut: share the number from the text straight to the Lookup Pass app. The app never reads your messages, your contacts, or your call history. 3. Read what comes back.

• Carrier: which company carries the number's texts and which carries its calls today, not the ones it started out with.
• Line type: mobile, landline, or an internet (VoIP) line.
• Caller ID name: the number's listed name, when it has one on file. It's a clue, not proof of who typed the message.
• Scam and spam reports: reports turn into a label everyone sees only after several different people have reported the number. A single report never labels it.

How do you match the result to the message?

Put what the text claims next to what the number turned out to be.

• "We've flagged a charge on your card. Tap to review." The FTC lists fake fraud alerts from your bank as a common unexpected-text scam. Whatever the lookup shows, get in touch with your bank through a phone number or website you already know is theirs, never the link in the message.
• "Your parcel couldn't be delivered. Update your address here." USPS doesn't text people out of the blue, according to the US Postal Inspection Service; tracking texts go only to people who signed up with the tracking number. Leave the link alone.
• "Hi Mom, I dropped my phone. This is my new number." The FTC describes family emergency scams, where someone claims to be a relative in trouble, says it's urgent, and asks you to keep it secret. If the lookup shows an internet line or scam reports, that's one more reason to call your child on their usual number. Make that call before you answer.

What if the lookup comes back clean?

No reports back only tells you that nobody has reported this number. That is not the same as safe. Reports aren't proof on their own either; they're a reason to check more carefully. And a lookup won't hand you the name of whoever has the phone: it describes the number, and it can't tell you where anyone is.

So the last step doesn't change, whatever the lookup shows. If a business texted you without warning, the FCC's advice is to find the business's number on your own and call it. If it's a person, use the number you already have for them.

If the text turns out to be spam, report it. The FTC gives three ways: send it on to 7726 (SPAM), flag it as junk in your messaging app, or file a report at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. In the Lookup Pass app, reporting the number takes one tap.