# Looking up phone numbers on Google gives nothing but junk? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 10, 2023, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-up-phone-numbers-on-google-gives-nothing-but-junk/980956 "2023-03-10T00:14:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Neidhart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Neidhart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neidhart)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2023, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-up-phone-numbers-on-google-gives-nothing-but-junk/980956/1 "2023-03-10T00:14:35Z")
It used to be that searching the number from which you received a call had a pretty good chance of actually showing which (wrong number/spammer) made the call. But searching on Google now, almost all the results are “.gov.tr” sites which seem to consist of random phone numbers and names that are clearly gibberish, such as " Audriana Khazansky . . . Littlebrownfox Umoette. . . . Kabelo Grondona. . . . Jeyasudha Garbina". What is the deal with these sites? Why does the Turkish government maintain them? (And why does nobody ever just leave a damn voicemail?) ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2023, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-up-phone-numbers-on-google-gives-nothing-but-junk/980956/2 "2023-03-10T00:17:07Z")
> [@Neidhart](#): > > (And why does nobody ever just leave a damn voicemail?) Because they’re just scam calls and it’s not really their number. It’s a spoof. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2023, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-up-phone-numbers-on-google-gives-nothing-but-junk/980956/3 "2023-03-10T00:21:44Z")
> [@Neidhart](#): > > What is the deal with these sites? Nobody seems to know. There was one suggestion made in a similar thread a couple of months ago: > [@Spam calls and google search results for these numbers](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spam-calls-and-google-search-results-for-these-numbers/978465/13): > > RE the OP question… > > I’m just going from (faulty) memory here, but there used to be a database of thousands of fake phone numbers and names, all obviously computer generated. It was originally intended to be a “practice” database for some application, but got released to the public, and some search engines picked it up. Like many stupid computer decisions, the search engines were unable to distinguish between the real and the fantasy, and were linking real numbers to the fake database. Maybe this – or something like it – is the source of your interesting fake names? ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2023, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-up-phone-numbers-on-google-gives-nothing-but-junk/980956/4 "2023-03-10T01:06:21Z")
> [@Neidhart](#): > > Why does the Turkish government maintain them? Just because they have a “.tr” URL does not mean that the Turkish government maintains, authorizes, permits, or is in any way involved with them. I give you “.io” as a great example of that. The BIOT government is not involved in those either. ---
**Author:** ![Neidhart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Neidhart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neidhart)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2023, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-up-phone-numbers-on-google-gives-nothing-but-junk/980956/5 "2023-03-10T15:45:48Z")
But they’re not just .tr but .gov.tr - you’d think not just any shlub can use that. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2023, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-up-phone-numbers-on-google-gives-nothing-but-junk/980956/6 "2023-03-10T20:29:14Z")
never mind ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2023, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-up-phone-numbers-on-google-gives-nothing-but-junk/980956/7 "2023-03-10T20:36:34Z")
When I look them up, a lot of them seem to be (at least based on the summary I can see without clicking on the site), just lists of phone numbers. Don’t know how it gets used, but IME, that’s a pretty good indication that it’s not worth calling back. What’s been bugging me lately is that nearly every search for a phone number returns, in the top few results, a link to a local news affiliate’s article called “Don’t pick up the phone:’ Robocalls growing in Wisconsin …”. But then google tells me that result doesn’t contain the phone number and asks if it should make sure all results include it. I don’t know how that one article on that one website gets one of the top spots for just about any phone number, but I really with it would stop.