How to call back a blocked or No Caller ID number

These get conflated constantly, and they have completely different answers.

They withheld their number. The display says No Caller ID, Private, Blocked, or Restricted. The caller dialed \*67 or has withholding switched on permanently. This page is about this case.

They blocked you. You can't reach them. Nothing here applies — see how to call someone who blocked you.

The number showed but you don't recognize it. You have the number; it's in your recents. That's an ordinary unknown caller, not a withheld one — and the question of whether to call it back is covered in the last section.

Dial *69 (or 1169 from a rotary or pulse line). On most North-American carriers this returns the last incoming call without telling you the number.

What it does well: it connects you to whoever just rang, including some numbers that displayed as private, because the network knows the number even though your handset wasn't shown it.

The limits, which are real: carriers increasingly block *69 for deliberately withheld numbers, which is the exact case you want it for. It may be a chargeable service on a per-use basis. It returns the last incoming call, so a single later call from anyone else overwrites it. And on many mobile plans it simply isn't supported at all.

Try it, but try it immediately, and don't be surprised when it refuses. More on the related codes in our star code reference.

Dial *57 straight after the call. This is the serious option and most people have never heard of it.

It doesn't tell you the number. What it does is instruct the carrier to record the originating line's details in a trace log tied to that specific call, and to retain them. You cannot access that record — but law enforcement can, with a report or a court order.

That makes *57 the correct tool for harassment, threats, and repeated unwanted calls. The usual sequence: dial *57 after each call, note the date and time of each one, file a police report, and give the police the dates and times so they can request the traces from your carrier.

Practical notes: it usually carries a per-use charge, it has to be dialed before another call comes in, and it works from landlines and most mobile lines. If calls are genuinely threatening, this is what to do first — before blocking, which destroys the pattern of evidence.

Your handset wasn't told the number. Your carrier's billing system was.

Some carriers surface incoming-call detail in the online account or monthly statement, sometimes including calls that displayed as private. Availability varies a great deal by carrier and by plan, and many show outgoing calls only — but it costs nothing to log in and look.

If the account doesn't show it, call the carrier and explain that you're receiving unwanted withheld calls. They will not read you the number — privacy rules prevent it — but they can open a trace case, apply blocking at the network level, and tell you what they need from you to go further. Ask specifically about Anonymous Call Rejection, which is section 5.

Services exist that claim to reveal withheld numbers. They work by routing your unanswered calls through their own system, where the caller ID is visible before the call reaches you.

Be clear about what that means in practice: your incoming calls are redirected through a third party, who then has a record of who calls you. They are usually paid subscriptions, their effectiveness varies, and the privacy trade is substantial — you're solving a privacy problem by handing your call records to a company you don't know.

For harassment, *57 plus a police report is more effective, costs less, and produces evidence that stands up. For ordinary nuisance calls, blocking at the network level is the proportionate answer. We don't recommend the unmasking services, and we have no affiliation with any of them.

Usually the better goal. Rather than identifying the caller, refuse withheld calls entirely.

Carrier-level: dial *77 to switch Anonymous Call Rejection on and *87 to switch it off, on carriers that support it. Withheld callers hear a recording saying you don't accept blocked calls, and your phone never rings. This happens on the network, so it costs you nothing in battery or attention.

iPhone: Settings, Apps, Phone, Silence Unknown Callers. Everyone not in your contacts goes straight to voicemail. Effective and blunt — it also silences your dentist, your delivery driver, and anyone returning your call from a number you don't have saved.

Android: Settings, Blocked numbers, and enable Unknown or Private callers, depending on handset. Many Android phones also have call screening, which answers and makes the caller state their business first.

Full detail in block unknown callers and no caller ID calls.

Three cases where returning the call makes things worse.

One ring, then silence, from an unfamiliar international number. This is the wangiri scam. The callback connects to a premium-rate line that charges by the minute and keeps you holding. Don't return it.

It was a robocall or a spam call. Calling back confirms your number is live and human-attended, which makes it more valuable and gets it resold. Why you're getting so many spam calls covers the mechanics.

It's harassment. Engaging rewards the behaviour and tends to escalate it. *57, a log of dates and times, and a police report — in that order, without ever calling back.

On a business line the calculation is different and more annoying. Silencing unknown callers isn't available to you, because the unknown caller is the new customer — and plenty of people call businesses from a withheld line for perfectly ordinary reasons.

So you're stuck answering everything, which means answering the nuisance calls too. The way out isn't to filter harder at the handset; it's to have something answer first that can tell a booking from a pitch, and only pass on the ones that matter.