They call and hang up: why it happens and what to do
The phone rings once or twice and when you answer there is nobody there, or they hang up straight away. These «ghost calls» are among the most reported: the NoCall community has gathered more than 1 reports on numbers that behave this way.
1. What is behind these calls
- Autodialler — a telemarketing call centre dials more numbers than it has free agents; if nobody is available, the call drops.
- Active-line check — systems verifying that your number answers, so they can call you later or sell the list.
- Wangiri — a deliberate missed call so that you call back a premium-rate number.
2. Do not call back yet
Beware of foreign numbers. If the missed call is from an international prefix you do not recognise, do not call back: the wangiri scam relies on you biting and calling a pay-per-call number.
3. Check the number on NoCall
Look the number up in the NoCall database of more than 178 numbers. If other users report the same «call and hang up» pattern, you know it is not a call worth returning.
4. Block and report
Block the number from your call history and report it on NoCall to warn other users. If the calls keep coming from different numbers, turn on automatic filtering and read how to block spam calls.