Calling number delivery blocking, known to most people as *67, hides the caller’s identity from the receiver of the call. If you get a call from an unknown caller, whose caller ID and number is hidden, there are ways to trace the identity of the caller.
There are three main ways to trace a called made through *67. Call trace is a feature available to most phone companies. Phone companies also have information on all calls made, even those made through *67. Lastly, a popular app called TrapCall has been known to successfully trace *67 calls.
What *67 Does
*67 is an NA vertical service code that allows your identity to be hidden when you make a call. When you call someone while using this service code, your caller ID is never sent to the recipient, so you appear as either a private or blocked number.
Using the calling number delivery blocking service is easy. Simply enter *67 before the number you are trying to call, and the service automatically activates. Your caller ID will not be seen by the recipient of the call.
Some people may have turned on the option to automatically block private or hidden numbers from calling them, so you may not be able to contact them using *67.
This service is not one that activates for all calls after you make the first *67 call. Instead, you have to manually enter the service code for every call you want to hide your identity from. You should also note that *67 does not work when you call emergency numbers and toll-free numbers.
When you make a call with the *67 service code, you are essentially telling your phone service provider to connect you to the recipient without sending your number to the recipient. This means that although your recipient may not know your number, the details of the call, including your number, are still available to your phone service company.
In essence, *67 only hides your number from your recipient. Your number can still be traced through various means by the recipient if they wish to know your identity.
Trace a *67 Call with Call Trace
The calling number delivery blocking service is an easy service to abuse, so phone service providers often offer solutions to help customers track unknown numbers. The malicious caller identification facility, or simply call trace, is a subscription service that records all information of the incoming call received before the service was activated.
To use this service, after receiving and hanging up on a call that you want to be traced, simply dial *57, the service code for call trace, and the phone service company will then proceed to take the meta-data of the call before. If the company successfully traced the call, you should hear a confirmation message. They will also notify you if the trace was unsuccessful.
*57 traces the last call that you received, so you should dial the service immediately after the harassing call and before you receive another call. You also do not have to hold the harassing call for a specific amount of time, since call trace will work as long as you receive an incoming call.
Phone service companies will also only notify you if the trace is successful, but they will not divulge the information to you. Instead, you have to contact your law enforcement agency, who will then retrieve the call trace data from your service provider. You will need to write down the date and time of the call to get the data.
The *57 service, unlike the *67 code is a paid service. However, you will only need to pay for each successful trace. The price varies, but may come around $1-$6, depending on your phone service company. The service also only activates when you dial *57, so subsequent calls are not traced and charged.
Trace a *67 Call through the Company
If you were not able to utilize the call trace service, you can still trace the calls from unknown callers through the phone company. However, like the call trace service, the phone service company will be unlikely to share these details with you, the subscriber.
You will also need police and court declarations for the phone service company to commence the tracing of the calls. These data will only be given to the appropriate law enforcement agencies who will take over the investigation of the calls.
Trace a *67 Call through TrapCall
All the previous methods require law enforcement involvement, which may only be valid for major harassments. If you want to trace *67 calls that may be otherwise harmless or annoying, a private service, TrapCall, might work for you.
TrapCall is an app available to both iOS and Android. It is a subscription service that will reveal unknown, blocked, or private callers as they attempt to call you. To make it work, you simply need to decline the unknown call first. After a few seconds, you will receive a call unmasking the caller’s identity.
You should note that TrapCall only works on calls that you receive while you’re under their subscription, so the app will not be able to access past calls from unknown numbers.
Additionally, TrapCall is a subscription service, so you will need to pay to use their service. They do not have a free tier, and have three paid tiers: Basic, Premium, and Ultimate. Each tier offers more features than the previous tier, but all of them offer the needed unlimited “unmasking” of unknown callers.
Tracing *67 Calls are Possible
The calling number delivery blocking service, or the *67 vertical service code is a useful feature for all sorts of purposes, but it can also be misused by people for the same set of purposes. To help protect yourself from these people, you can try to follow any of the methods previously mentioned.
