# Fax numbers-who do they belong to?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fax-numbers-who-do-they-belong-to/207234>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [October 13, 2003, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fax-numbers-who-do-they-belong-to/207234 "2003-10-13T19:02:40Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Jasmine\_Delgado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c2a13f/32.png) [@Jasmine\_Delgado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine_Delgado)\
**Post date:** [October 13, 2003, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fax-numbers-who-do-they-belong-to/207234/1 "2003-10-13T19:02:40Z")

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Is there any way of finding out who a fax number belongs to? The reason I ask is that many employment ads these days say to fax resume but don’t give any information on what company placed the ad. Is there any kind of reverse directory for fax numbers? Any assistance will be greatly appreciated.

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**Author:** ![Papermache\_Prince](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f05b48/32.png) [@Papermache\_Prince](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Papermache_Prince)\
**Post date:** [October 13, 2003, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fax-numbers-who-do-they-belong-to/207234/2 "2003-10-13T19:19:09Z")

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Try plugging it into Google and see if the results are useful.

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**Author:** ![Jasmine\_Delgado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c2a13f/32.png) [@Jasmine\_Delgado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine_Delgado)\
**Post date:** [October 13, 2003, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fax-numbers-who-do-they-belong-to/207234/3 "2003-10-13T19:38:21Z")

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Google found a bunch of companies sharing that number but none for a podunk outfit in this podunk town. Good idea, though, and thanks.

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**Author:** ![Harriet\_the\_Spry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e56c9b/32.png) [@Harriet\_the\_Spry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harriet_the_Spry)\
**Post date:** [October 13, 2003, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fax-numbers-who-do-they-belong-to/207234/4 "2003-10-13T19:57:41Z")

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If it is a line used for phone and for fax, a regular reverse directory should do the trick.

Not that you asked, but I would approach that type of employment ad with healthy skepticism. Sometimes it is a legitimate company that just doesn’t want to get phone calls. However, if they run several vaguely worded ads with the same fax number to contact, that is a bad sign.

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**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\
**Post date:** [October 13, 2003, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fax-numbers-who-do-they-belong-to/207234/5 "2003-10-13T21:35:38Z")

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Um, yeah, what **Harriet** said. How come they get to remain anonymous, but you have to send an unknown entity all your personal information? Plus there is the danger of sending your resume to a company you don’t want to apply to, such as one that you know has a bad reputation, or your own current employer.

Blind ads = bad news, IMHO.

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**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\
**Post date:** [October 14, 2003, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fax-numbers-who-do-they-belong-to/207234/6 "2003-10-14T07:08:23Z")

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A lot of legitimate companies run blind ads.

The biggest reason I know of why companies do this is the postion they are advertising for hasn’t been vacated yet. In other words they want to fire “Joe Schmoe.” But they don’t want to fire him till they are sure they can replace him.

Some blind ads are just employment agencies.