How reports work

What a report is

A visitor chooses the one option that best fits the call:

• Possible scam
• Sales or marketing
• Silent or hung up
• Debt collection
• Survey or research
• Charity
• Genuine call

They can also say how many times it called (once, a few times, many times), and who the caller said they were, if they want to. The choices for who the caller said they were are:

• HMRC or the government
• My bank or card provider
• The police
• A delivery company
• Amazon or another online shop
• My energy, phone or broadband provider
• An insurance or claims company
• A debt collector
• Microsoft, BT or tech support
• They didn't say
• Something else

That is all. There are no comments, names, accounts, profiles or messages, so a report cannot contain personal details or claims about anyone.

One report per visitor

Each visitor has one report per number. If you report the same number again, your new choice replaces your old one. We tell visitors apart with a keyed hash of their IP address and the number (see our privacy policy). We delete that hash after 90 days, so a report sent after that counts as a new one.

The site also limits how many reports one connection can send in an hour, and may ask for a quick security check, to stop automated reports.

When a summary appears

A number's page shows what visitors said only once at least 3 different visitors have reported it. The summary is a plain count, for example “7 visitors said: Sales or marketing”, with the date of the latest report. Until then the page says how many people have reported it so far, and it is not offered to search engines.

Who the caller said they were is shown in the same summary, as a count such as “4 visitors said the caller claimed to be from HMRC or the government”. A claim is listed only once at least 2 visitors chose it, so one person cannot attach a claim to a number. It records what the caller claimed, not who called: scammers often pretend to be from organisations people trust. Where the organisation lists the same number on its own website, the page says so and links to the official numbers and the scam guide for that kind of call.

What we do not do

• We do not give numbers a score, rating, percentage or verdict, and we do not call any number safe or a scam.
• “Possible scam” only ever appears as the number of visitors who chose it. It is their view of their own call, not a finding.
• We never add reports of our own.
• We cannot confirm who made a call. Callers can hide or fake the number that shows on your phone, so a real organisation's number can be used by someone else.

Removal requests from number holders

If a number is yours, or you act for the person or business that uses it, use the removal request form. When we accept a request we clear the visitor reports on the number and stop its summary from showing. We aim to reply within 5 working days, and we may ask you to show that you use the number.

We cannot remove the general facts about the number range (for example that a number is a mobile number, or which area an area code covers), because those come from Ofcom's published numbering data, not from visitors.

Suggested official numbers

Anyone can suggest an official number by sending the number and the page on the organisation's own website where it is published. Suggestions are not published. We visit the page, and add the number to the official numbers directory only if it is there, with a short quote and the date we checked. We do not use numbers from forums, directories or other lookup sites, and we do not list personal numbers.

If something looks wrong

If a summary looks wrong or deliberately skewed, for example many reports appearing at once, tell us through the report a problem form. We can hide a number's summary or clear its reports. We aim to look at anything that may be illegal within 48 hours, and at other problems within 5 working days.

Complaints

If you are unhappy with how we dealt with a removal request or a problem you reported, email hello@whoiscalling.me.uk or use the contact form with “Complaint” at the start. Tell us the number and roughly when. We will look at it again from the start and aim to reply within 10 working days. If we got it wrong, we will put it right.

Records

We keep removal requests, problem reports, number suggestions and what we did about them for the periods set out in our privacy policy, so we can deal with complaints and legal claims.