Can I trust a number if nobody has reported it?

Not on that basis alone. Most numbers have no reports, including new scam numbers that have only just started calling. No reports means no one has shared an experience yet, not that the number is safe. Judge the call by what it asks for, and verify any organization by calling it back on a number you found yourself.

Is it safe to call back a number to find out who it was?

It is usually better not to. Calling back confirms your number is active, and some callback numbers are international or premium lines that bill you for the call. Look the number up first. If it claims to be an organization you deal with, call that organization on the number from its website, your card or your statement instead.

What should I do if I already gave a scammer information?

Act on what you gave. For banking details or a one-time code, call your bank on the number on your card right away. For your SIN or CRA account details, contact the CRA. For a password, change it and turn on two-step verification. Then report it to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre at 1-888-495-8501 and your local police.

Does a scam number stay the same?

Often not. Scammers rent numbers cheaply, drop them when complaints build up and spoof other numbers when it suits them, so the same script can arrive from many numbers. That is why reports about the script, such as a fake CRA arrest threat, are as useful as reports about one number.

Is This Phone Number a Scam? A 5-Step Check

To tell whether a phone number is a scam, check five things: whether its prefix is assigned to a carrier, what kind of line it is, what others reported, whether it could be spoofed, and what the caller asked for. The last check matters most: a request for codes, gift cards or crypto is a scam on any number.

Oct 9, 2026

The five checks

Every North American number has a three-digit area code, a three-digit prefix and four more digits. The first six digits are enough to answer most of these questions. TrustOrNah loads 28,769 Canadian prefixes from CNAC and 198,571 US prefixes from NANPA every day, so the answers come from the official records.

Is the prefix assigned? If no carrier holds that block, no real phone can be using the number, and the caller ID was invented.
What kind of line is it? The carrier that holds the block shows whether the number is likely mobile, landline or VoIP.
What have others reported? Reports from people who got the same call, and for US numbers, complaints filed with the FCC.
Could it be spoofed? Any number can be faked on caller ID, including real ones.
What did the caller ask for? This is the deciding check.

How can I tell if a phone number is a scam?

Look up the number to see its carrier, line type and reports, then compare that with who the caller claimed to be. A bank on a mobile prefix or a government office on a VoIP line does not fit. Most important, any request for a one-time code, gift cards, crypto or an urgent payment means scam.

What does it mean if a phone number is not assigned?

It means no carrier holds the block of numbers that the prefix belongs to, so no real phone can place calls from it. If that number appeared on your caller ID, the display was faked. Check for a typo first. Toll-free numbers are not in these records, so this check does not apply to them.

Line type, reports and spoofing

Line type is a consistency check, not a verdict. Many honest small businesses run on mobile or VoIP numbers. What matters is whether it fits the story: a national bank’s fraud department does not call from a prefix held by a mobile carrier.

Reports carry more weight when there are several of them, describing the same script, over a short time. One report could be a mistake. A US number with several FCC complaints in a few days is a pattern.

Spoofing is why a clean result proves nothing. A scammer can display a real number, even your bank’s, and the lookup will show that number’s genuine carrier. Our guide to caller ID spoofing explains how the fake works and what carriers do about it. When the number looks fine but the request feels wrong, trust the request.

What to do by scenario

The caller says	Red flag	What to do
Your bank	Asks for a one-time code, PIN or a transfer to a “safe account”	Hang up and call the number on your card
The CRA	Threatens arrest, demands gift cards, crypto or e-Transfer	Hang up and call 1-800-959-8281 yourself
A courier	Texts a link to pay a small fee	Track the parcel on the courier’s own site
Tech support	Says your computer has a virus and wants remote access	Hang up; Microsoft does not make these calls

Bank. BMO, for example, says it will never contact you by unsolicited call, email or text to ask for passwords, PINs or verification codes. Call the number on the back of your card, not one given during the call.

CRA. The CRA never threatens arrest or demands payment by gift card or crypto. Our CRA phone scam guide lists its real numbers.

Delivery. Canada Post only texts tracking updates from 272727 or 55555, and only if you signed up. Our delivery text scam guide shows how to read the link.

Tech support. Microsoft says it does not make unsolicited phone calls to provide technical support, and that its error messages never include phone numbers. Any caller offering to fix your computer is a scammer.

What to do now

Look up the number on the phone lookup before you call back.
Hang up on any caller who asks for a code, a password, gift cards, crypto or remote access.
Call organizations back on a number from your card, statement or their official website.
Report fraud to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre at 1-888-495-8501.