What can a phone number lookup tell you about a text, and what can't it?

A lookup tells you what the number is: its carrier, its line type, the caller ID name if one is on file, and national scam and spam reports. It can't tell you who has the phone, where they are, or who really sent a spoofed text.

What does a lookup show?

Lookup Pass will look up any US number, including the one on the text in front of you. You get four things back:

1. The carrier. The company that carries the number's texts, plus the one that carries its calls. You see the current ones, not the carriers the number began with. 2. The line type. Mobile, landline, or internet (VoIP). 3. The caller ID name. Whatever name the number has on file, if it has one. 4. Scam and spam reports. One person's report isn't enough to label a number. When several different people have reported it, the label shows for everyone.

The carrier details come from reading the carrier network at the moment you check. After that, the number is run against national scam and spam reporting.

How do those details help with a text?

A text says whatever its sender wanted it to say. The lookup gives you details that do not come from the message, and you can compare them with what it claims. Treat the result as a clue to weigh against the story in the text, not proof either way.

• A bank "fraud alert." The text says a charge on your card needs checking. If the number turns out to be an internet line with scam reports against it, you know that before you touch the link. Either way, the FTC's advice is to reach your bank through a phone number or website you know to be real.
• A package text. It asks you to pay a redelivery fee. The lookup shows the line type and any reports. According to the US Postal Inspection Service, USPS only texts tracking updates to people who used the tracking number to sign up.
• "Hi Mom, this is my new number." If your child uses a mobile and the new number is an internet line, that doesn't prove anything by itself, but it's one more reason to call the number you already have for them. The FTC gives the same advice for any message from a family member who suddenly needs help.

What can't a lookup tell you?

Some things are outside what a number can tell you, and it helps to know that up front.

• The person behind the number, or their location. A lookup is about the number itself. It can't point you to a person or say where they are, and it doesn't find people.
• Whether the text is harmless. No reports means just that: nobody has filed one yet. That is not the same as safe.
• Who really sent a spoofed text. The FTC has warned about scam texts that display the recipient's own number. A lookup covers the number on your screen, so if that number was spoofed, you're reading about it, not about the real sender.
• Proof of a name. You may see the number's caller ID name on file, but it can't show you who typed the message. That name is easy to fake; the number's carrier is much harder, yet it still can't tell you who is typing.
• Texts from a short code or a business name. Lookup Pass checks 10-digit US phone numbers. A 5- or 6-digit short code, the kind businesses use for automated texts, isn't checked, and neither is a sender that shows only a business name.

What should you do after the lookup?

The result helps you decide, but the next step is usually the same. Don't use the link or any number written in the text. When a business texts you unexpectedly, find the company's number yourself and call it, as the FCC suggests. For a person, use the number you already have.

How do you report the text if it's spam?

The FTC's three reporting routes are: pass the text along to 7726 (SPAM), mark it as junk in your messaging app, or file at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. You can also report the number with one tap in the Lookup Pass app, and each report counts toward the label other people see.