How we moderate
Who Is Calling Me exists to help people work out who called them. That only works if what you read here is fair and accurate, so this page explains how reports are checked, what we take down, and where every other piece of information comes from.
Before a report appears
- An anti-bot check runs on every report, and posting too quickly is blocked.
- Email addresses and phone numbers other than the one being reported are removed automatically.
- Reports containing links, abusive language, or so much removed personal information that little is left are held for a person to review before they are published.
- Reports that appear to name a person are flagged for a moderator to check.
- Anyone can flag a published report for a moderator to look at again.
What we remove
- Personal information about identifiable people, such as names and addresses
- Content that is defamatory, abusive or otherwise unlawful
- Reports that clearly describe a different number
- Spam, advertising and anything off topic
- Business listings that are out of date or name the wrong business
To ask for something to be removed, use the content removal process. We normally respond within 2 business days.
How the verdict is worked out
A number's verdict and spam score come only from community reports. Each report's call type carries a weight (a scam call counts for more than a survey), recent reports count for more than old ones, and a report marking a caller as legitimate pulls the score down. It takes several reports before a number can be called a likely scam.
When a number has no reports, we tell you what the public data says instead. If no phone company holds the number, a call showing it was almost certainly faked.
Where the other information comes from
- Number details (type, region, network and whether the number is in use) come from the Australian Communications and Media Authority's public numbering register.
- Verified numbers are ones an organisation publishes on its own website. Registered numbers are ones the numbering register lists a well-known organisation as holding.
- Business listings come from openly licensed places data published by the Overture Maps Foundation. We only show listings the data recently confirms, each labelled with how confident we are.
None of this proves who is calling: caller ID is easy to fake. If a call claims to be from an organisation, hang up and call it back on a number from its official website.