Unknown vs Private

CathJ

CathJ

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I've been getting a lot of calls from a number that shows up as "Unknown" on my phone... I managed to answer one the other day, and there was just a hissing/static noise in the background. It's getting really annoying, but I guess there's not much I can do about it.

But it did make me wonder - what determines whether a number is shown as "Unknown" instead of "Private"? Some calls show as Private, some show as Unknown, and now I'm curious as to what the difference is.
 
My guess: the unknown means the "hide number" bit was not set, however the info is just not there at all, whereas the private message means the initiator actively prevented the number from being shown. Prior to Neotel (I believe) no international CLI was received, and all calls came through as unknown.
 
Private can also be if the phone number is behind a switchboard.
 
Weird I thought Sonys say Unknown and Nokia say Private.
 
I noticed that unknown tends to originate from foreign countries. I had a call from England and instead of "Withheld" (that's the SE word) I got an "Unknown" - which I had to answer out of curiosity. Good thing I did, it was an old mate!
 
timgaul said:
I noticed that unknown tends to originate from foreign countries. I had a call from England and instead of "Withheld" (that's the SE word) I got an "Unknown" - which I had to answer out of curiosity. Good thing I did, it was an old mate!
Click to expand...

Oh yes you right!
Unknown numbers could also be VOIP based.
 
I had two 'unknown' calls yesterday. The first one was a woman from the SABC to remind me that my TV license is 3 months in arrears. And the second one was a woman from ABSA who wanted me to transfer my credit limit to my cheque account ... or something, I don't understand. I told her I don't make financial decisions over the telephone.
 
LOL LOL I also get these but makes me wonder... My calls are all local but some clients that call me will call on private and the others on unknown.

Even my lady when she calls sometimes from house phone it comes up as unknown and from her phone it is private why the difference there?
There is VOIP at home. Just a standard Telkom line.
 
Picard said:
I had two 'unknown' calls yesterday. The first one was a woman from the SABC to remind me that my TV license is 3 months in arrears. And the second one was a woman from ABSA who wanted me to transfer my credit limit to my cheque account ... or something, I don't understand. I told her I don't make financial decisions over the telephone.
Click to expand...

Uh, according to financial institutions law they need to expose the number they're calling from! That's illegal if it originates from a "Unknown"/"Private"/"Withheld" number from a bank.
 
Picard said:
I had two 'unknown' calls yesterday. The first one was a woman from the SABC to remind me that my TV license is 3 months in arrears. And the second one was a woman from ABSA who wanted me to transfer my credit limit to my cheque account ... or something, I don't understand. I told her I don't make financial decisions over the telephone.
Click to expand...

Good.

At least someone agrees with me about sharing sensitive info over the 'phone.

:)
 
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