Common questions

A signal is one person saying what happened to them with a phone number: which pattern (from a fixed list), and if they want, a short note about it. It isn't verified, and it isn't a verdict.

Several people reporting the same kind of thing about one number, independently and recently, is a stronger signal than one. That's what the level on a number's page is trying to say.

No. Reports here are unverified and anonymous, and they describe behavior tied to a phone number, not a person.

Don't use this site to decide about employment, housing, credit, insurance, or anything like that. It isn't built for it, and our terms don't allow it.

We don't know, and we don't say that. Numbers get spoofed, so a call or text that shows one number can come from somewhere else entirely. Numbers also get reassigned to new people.

Treat what you see as one input: other people reported something about this number. Then check with your bank, the platform, or the person directly, using contact details you looked up yourself.

By counting people, not reports, and by how recent and serious the reports are. One person alone can only ever get a number to low. Elevated needs at least two different people. High needs three or more, and something recent.

Old reports fade. Reports a moderator reviewed count a bit more. Disputed ones count a lot less. The full rules are on How it works.

No, on purpose. You can only look up phone numbers, and reports can't include names, handles, or addresses either. That keeps the site about what happened, not who someone is.

Yes. Enter the number with its country code, like +44 7911 123456. US and Canadian numbers work without one.

We check that a number is valid for its country before we accept a report, so made-up numbers are rejected.

No account needed. We don't publish anything about you: not a name, not an email, not an IP address.

Behind the scenes we keep a keyed hash of your IP for up to 180 days. We use it to spot floods and abuse, and to count how many different people reported a number. If you're signed in, the report is tied to your account so you can see and remove it later. Either way, nobody reading the site can tell who reported.

Most reports go live right away on the number's page and in Recent, and count toward the number's signal level.

If a number is getting a burst of reports from different people in a short time, new ones are held so a person can look first. You're told when that happens. Anyone can flag a report, and a moderator reads flags.

Held means a person needs to look first. That happens when the form was sent unusually fast, or when the number was getting flooded with reports. It either goes live or it doesn't.

Removed means it broke the guidelines: it identified someone (a name, handle, address, workplace, or a description that amounts to one), it wasn't about the reporter's own experience, or it was spam or retaliation. Held and removed reports don't count toward the signal level. If you have an account, you can see each report's status under Account.

If you made it while signed in, go to Account, find the report, and remove it. It disappears from the site right away, and the number's counts update.

If you reported without an account, email privacy@beforeyoupickup.com with the number and roughly when you reported, and we'll sort it out. We can't edit reports for you. You can remove one, and once 30 days have passed since your first report you can report the number again.

Every report has a Flag control. Pick a reason (it's about you and it's wrong, it identifies someone, harassment, spam, something else), add a line if you like, and send it. No account needed. A person reads it. One flag per person per report is enough.

That happens, and we're sorry. Scammers spoof real numbers so their texts look like they came from you, and carriers reassign numbers to new customers.

Send us a dispute. Say how long you've had the number and whether you know why it might be listed. While we look, we may mark the reports as disputed. Then we remove or keep them, and tell you which. It's free, always.

• The reported phone number, encrypted at rest and keyed by a hash so we can look it up. It's shown in full on its own page and partly hidden in lists.
• The report itself: the categories, when it was made, and the optional note. The note is checked for identifying details before it's saved.
• A keyed hash of the IP the report came from, for up to 180 days.
• Your email and a hashed password, only if you make an account.
• Lookup counts with hashed IPs, for 90 days, so we can spot scraping.
• Aggregate page analytics from Vercel. No ad tracking.

The privacy policy has the full table, including how long each thing is kept.

No. We don't sell it, rent it, or share it for advertising.

The only companies that touch it are the ones that run the site: Vercel (hosting), Neon (database), Resend (email), and Cloudflare Turnstile when the bot check is on. We'd give data to law enforcement only with valid legal process.

General questions: hello@beforeyoupickup.com. Something abusive or urgent: abuse@beforeyoupickup.com. Anything about your data: privacy@beforeyoupickup.com.

We're a small team. Expect a reply within a few business days.