How to remove your phone number from being publicly listed online

Don’t be surprised that your phone number is listed online for anyone to see and contact you. You may have put it in there yourself to log into social media apps, book your stay, shop online, and when redeeming that enticing discount code.

You’d say everyone does this, but it exposes your number to scammers waiting to steal it. They even scan people finder sites just like B2B data brokers to send you offers from different brands.

This could be why you may receive robocalls and telemarketing messages spamming you with offers that are too good to be true. Things can get even more serious when fraudsters and scammers target you and harass you for their ill-gotten gains.

You are not alone. According to the 2022 US Privacy Survey, 94% of 2,310 respondents have received robocalls, 97% have received spam emails, and 90% have faced fraud attempts online.

It is undoubtedly vital to protect yourself from these annoying calls and the horrors of phishing attempts and identity theft. And you can do it by taking the right steps to protect your phone number and personal information.

First step: Check where your number is listed

Before you start removing your number from the site, find out where all your numbers are listed:

1. Do a Google search

• Start by entering your name and phone number. Google will search the various pages and display the results. Most of these search results would come from data brokers, social media platforms and people finder sites.
• You can also try using Google About You to see if your phone number shows up when someone searches for your details on Google. If any search results match your information, Google will notify you within a few hours.
• You can also check the results and the information they contain directly on the “Results to check” tab on the “Results About You” page.

2. Identify your number in people search engines

• Go to sites like Spokeo, Whitepages or BeenVerified. These data brokers collect your phone number, post it online, and even sell it to anyone who searches for it.
• Enter your full name, city and state and click “search” to find your record.

3. Check old profiles and social media accounts

You could have created a social profile like a FB account a long time ago and moved on to create a new account or switch to a new social app like Gram. Check your old emails and messages to see if your number is still there.

Next Action: Request to be removed from people finder sites

Yes, you can opt out of seeing your number on sites like Spokeo and Whitepages. These data providers must comply with state laws, such as the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), and remove your phone number free of charge upon your request.

For example, you can search Whitepages.com, select your profile and view details, copy your profile URL, submit a request, verify your record, provide a reason for removal, and verify your request with a code; it is a long and time consuming process.

In addition, the opt-out procedure is different for each website. And these data brokers further complicate the process by delaying it.

You will also need to keep records of opt-out requests and perform regular checks to ensure that your phone number is not re-stored and misused.

Recommended Action: Get Incognito to remove your number

With step-by-step data broker opt-out guides created by Incogni, a trusted personal data removal service, you can remove your number from all major people finder sites for free. But do you have time to visit each broker’s website and follow the unsubscribe procedure?

Plus, it’s not just about you. Your parents or elderly loved ones are more prone to fall victim to phone scams and are often targeted by cybercriminals. It will be difficult and expensive for them to manually remove their phone numbers from hundreds of sites of data brokers.

Incogni’s automatic removal services cover 164 data brokers, focused on removing personal information, such as your phone number, from people search engines and private databases.

Incogni will contact data processors on your behalf and send them requests to remove your information from their databases.

As a recognized legal entity, Incogni uses the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) to comply with data deletion requests from data processors. It also monitors people search sites and regularly sends them unsubscribe requests. Incogni also asks data brokers to add your profile to their suppression lists, if available, to ensure that your name never appears again.

What else can you do to delete your number?

1. Remove your phone number from Google search results

First, run an advanced search and follow the step-by-step instructions in this [Incogni guide](https://blog.incogni.com/remove-personal-info-from-google/) to remove your phone number.

Additionally, suppression techniques such as creating your new profile can help push unwanted listings further up Google search results.

2. Remove phone number from social network profiles

In an age where we click on grandma’s food first and then start eating, you probably won’t remember when and where you shared your number on social apps.

• Remove your number by checking and adjusting your privacy settings on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter and more.
• And deactivating old accounts where your phone number may still be listed will be a good move.

3. Request to remove the number from websites and forums

You can remove your phone number listed online by contacting webmasters, blogs and forum administrators.

• The DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) gives you the right to remove content that violates your privacy, i.e. if your phone number has been published without your consent. Submit a DMCA takedown request and remove your number from websites and forums.
• If your number is being used for illegal or suspicious activity, you must seek legal advice to avoid a serious life-changing event such as being accused of fraud or identity theft.

4. Use the National Do Not Call Register to block unwanted calls

Registering on the National Do Not Call Register is an effective way to stop annoying and unwanted calls that can steal your time, money and peace of mind.

It’s easy to sign up and will greatly reduce the number of telemarketing calls. However, scam calls and robocalls are not covered by the national do not call registry.

A smart investment: Stay protected with the Incogni Family and Friends plan

You can protect up to four loved ones with the Incogni Family and Friends plan. Or choose an individual plan for yourself.

An annual subscription with a special 50% discount will cost you $7.49 per month for the Individual plan and $16.49 per month for the Family & Friends plan. Plus, with Incogni’s Cyber ​​Security Weekly Deal, get a 58% off annual subscription by using code MAKEUSEOF at the checkout.

It’s not a high price to pay for your privacy and protection to keep your data like phone numbers, addresses and email ID off the market for the next 12 months.

Additionally, as a US-based individual, you can add up to three phone numbers, three emails, and three addresses as well. So Incogni can identify and remove more of your information from the Internet because you may have changed numbers or use more than one number, address or email, for example separate ones for personal and official work.

You and your family members can track the number removal process for your Incogni dashboard, including potential databases found, requests submitted, as well as requests fulfilled and completed.

Here’s how to stay alert and keep your number safe

You can be sure with Incogni, a proven and reliable service with a 4.4 rating on Trustpilot. Additionally, you can also adopt a few ways to keep your numbers safe and take steps to keep fraudsters at bay:

• Do not share your number on any random website while filling out forms, booking services or shopping online.
• Protect your number with a virtual phone number like Google Voice
• Sign up and use two-factor authentication apps like Google Authenticator. It’s more secure than receiving 2FA codes via SMS that could reveal your phone number.
• Set up account alerts to be notified when your phone number is used for new registrations or associated with suspicious activity.
• Block unwanted callers on your phone and report them as spam to your phone operator.
• Google local government websites to report fraudulent or harassing calls to them or to agencies such as the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
• Being scammed can steal your peace of mind and big scams can leave you helpless. However, you can always change your number and notify nearby contacts to start over.

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Removing your phone number from being publicly listed online can be a difficult and lengthy process. With Incogni’s proven and trusted personal data removal service, you can automatically delete your phone number and other information from the web. You can get an annual subscription to the Family and Friends plan with a special 50% discount. Get it now during Cyber ​​Security Week and enjoy 58% off with the code MAKEUSEOF.

Delete your phone number using anonymous mode

Incogni can be the solution to keeping your peace of mind by keeping your phone number safe from the prying eyes of data brokers browsing online.

And this might be the right time to try Incogni, because as a MUO reader you can use the code to get 58% off individual and family and friends plans MAKEUSEOF during the ongoing Cyber ​​Security Week offering.