Canadial Know Who Called

Data sources and methodology

FTC Do Not Call complaints

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission publishes the phone numbers people complain about to its Do Not Call registry, one file per weekday. Canadial keeps every file published since May 27, 2022, most recently Nov 13, 2026, unchanged, and counts them per number:

Groups of similar numbers

Some callers cycle through many numbers from one block. A number page shows a group when numbers in the same block (like 475-378), whose most common FTC category is the same, were first reported within three days of each other in a chain, and there are too many of them to be chance: fewer than one in a billion, compared with how often that category's numbers were first reported across the whole area code in those days. Numbers whose category is “Other” or not given, and toll-free numbers, are left out.

We checked the rule by shuffling numbers between blocks of the same area code and running it again: the shuffled data produced about 15% as many grouped numbers as the real data. So most groups reflect real clustering, but not every number in a group was used by the same caller.

A second kind of group spans blocks: numbers anywhere in one area code with the same most common FTC category, first reported within the same three days, when that is many times the area code's usual count for the category (the average over the 45 days either side). It must be less likely than one in a billion by chance, and the usual count must be at most 15% of the group, so at most about one number in seven can be ordinary background. Numbers already in a block group stay in that group. Checked the same way, by moving every number's first-report date at random within 45 days: the shuffled data produced no groups at all.

FTC complaints are not verified by the FTC or by Canadial. Scam callers often fake (spoof) the number that appears on caller ID, so complaints about a number don't prove its owner made the calls.

FCC consumer complaints

A second, independent source: complaints about unwanted calls, telemarketing and robocalls filed with the U.S. Federal Communications Commission's Consumer Help Center since October 31, 2014, from the FCC's Consumer Complaints Data (public domain), checked daily. A complaint counts for each number it names, as the caller ID or as the number the caller asked people to call back. We show how many, when, how the call came (recorded message, live voice, text), what it was about, and complainants' states, as the complainants entered them. The FCC doesn't verify the facts alleged in complaints, and neither do we. FCC complaints count toward a number's risk level along with FTC complaints.

Recent activity and rank

“Dated in the last 30 days” counts a number's FTC complaints by the date of the call, up to the date of the latest FTC file, against the 90 days before that. “No new complaints since” appears when a number's latest complaint or report from any source is more than 90 days before the latest FTC data. “More FTC complaints than X% of numbers in area code Y” compares the number's FTC complaint count with every number in the same area code that has at least one, counting only numbers with fewer (not equal), rounded down; it is shown for area codes with at least 100 such numbers.

We looked for a public source of whether a number block is mobile, landline or internet (VoIP). The only one is the industry's licensed routing data, which can't be republished, and with number portability a block's original type often isn't the number's type today, so number pages don't show a line type.

Community reports

Reports come from three places, and each report on a number page says which:

Reports that break the rules (personal information, abuse, false claims) are hidden after review; they are kept, not deleted, so decisions can be reviewed.

Number blocks

Phone numbers are assigned to carriers in blocks: an area code and exchange (like 416-555), and in the U.S. often in blocks of a thousand. Canadial uses the Canadian Numbering Administrator's CO code status list and the North American Numbering Plan Administrator's code and thousands-block assignment records, refreshed monthly.

Area codes, states and US reports

Area code pages take each code's state or province, in-service date, overlay and the code it relieved, and time zone from NANPA's NPA database, refreshed monthly. Cities are the rate centres where the code's blocks are assigned, largest first; carriers are the block holders. Where NANPA lists several time zones for a code, the page lists them all without guessing which covers more of it.

State pages and the monthly US reports count FTC Do Not Call complaints by the state the complainant entered and the month of the call (the filing date when the call date is missing or implausible), with the same row rules as the number pages. Per-capita figures use the U.S. Census Bureau's Vintage 2025 population estimates. A month's report is published once the FTC's files cover it plus 7 days; later complaints about that month are added until it is 4 months old, after which the report stays as published. Most-reported numbers in a state are the numbers with the most complaints from that state. FCC figures are complaints per state and category from the FCC's dataset; the FCC records a category for only part of its complaints, since August 2021.

Risk level

Each number page gives a risk level from three facts: the total number of complaints and reports, how recent the latest one is (measured against the date of the latest FTC data), and the share of FTC complaints that were robocalls.

The line under the level prints the facts it was based on.

The summary sentence

The sentence at the top of a number page is built from the same counts. It calls a number likely a robocall when at least half of 3 or more FTC complaints were recorded messages, likely a scam when at least half were about impersonating a government agency, business or relative, and likely an unwanted sales call for other numbers with 3 or more FTC complaints. When community reports outnumber FTC complaints, their most common type is used instead. With fewer than 3 complaints and reports, it only states the counts. The category it names (“mostly about debt relief”) is the most common FTC category, said as “mostly” at 50% or more.

Is it a debt collector? is answered from the FTC's “Debt collection” category and community reports typed “Debt collector”. Debt relief calls (offers to reduce debt) are a sales pitch and are not counted as collection. Canadial doesn't check whether a caller is a licensed collection agency; see the provincial guides for how to check.

Licensed collection agencies

Numbers of collection agencies licensed in Ontario come from the Ontario Ministry of Public and Business Service Delivery and Procurement's Select Licence and Registration Data: every business with an issued “Collection Agency” licence under the Collection and Debt Settlement Services Act, with its telephone number and licence number. Canadial reads the newest monthly file each month and shows the file's date on the number page. A page says a number “belongs to a licensed collection agency in Ontario” only when the number is the agency's telephone number in that file; the absence of a number from the file proves nothing, since agencies licensed in other provinces, and other numbers an agency uses, aren't in it. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Ontario.

How to cite Canadial

Each number page and the statistics page say how current their data is. When quoting a figure, cite the page's URL and its “data updated” date, and name the underlying source where the page does (for example “FTC Do Not Call complaints, via Canadial”). FTC complaints are unverified reports by consumers.

Search counts and “Did this number call you?”

Search counts are visits to a number's page from a web browser, counted once per visitor per day. Requests from known bots and automated tools aren't counted. Answers to “Did this number call you?” are limited to one per visitor per number every 30 days. Neither stores IP addresses; see the privacy policy.