# Mysterious, beeping "restricted" calls on my cell phone? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 29, 2009, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mysterious-beeping-restricted-calls-on-my-cell-phone/511970 "2009-09-29T14:12:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![gitfiddle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/898d66/32.png) [@gitfiddle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gitfiddle)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2009, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mysterious-beeping-restricted-calls-on-my-cell-phone/511970/1 "2009-09-29T14:12:22Z")
I have had this happen a couple of times before. It probably happens at least once every two months, but this morning alone I’ve already had three calls from a “restricted” number, and when I pick up all it does it beep intermittently every other second or so. I’m pretty sure it has happened on my wife’s phone before too, but not as often. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2009, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mysterious-beeping-restricted-calls-on-my-cell-phone/511970/2 "2009-09-29T14:13:21Z")
Are you getting a fax call? Calling faxes beep while they wait for the oher end to respond. ---
**Author:** ![EmAnJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d2c977/32.png) [@EmAnJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmAnJ)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2009, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mysterious-beeping-restricted-calls-on-my-cell-phone/511970/3 "2009-09-29T14:17:28Z")
Phew, good thing you hung up in time! They’re trying to reprogram your brain! ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2009, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mysterious-beeping-restricted-calls-on-my-cell-phone/511970/4 "2009-09-29T15:30:48Z")
Yep, sounds like someone is attempting to fax something to your number. They either have a wrong number or are sending spam faxes. ---
**Author:** ![gitfiddle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/898d66/32.png) [@gitfiddle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gitfiddle)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2009, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mysterious-beeping-restricted-calls-on-my-cell-phone/511970/5 "2009-09-29T15:34:17Z")
> [@Hampshire](#): > > Yep, sounds like someone is attempting to fax something to your number. > They either have a wrong number or are sending spam faxes. Well, that’s good to know, I guess. People send spam faxes? ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2009, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mysterious-beeping-restricted-calls-on-my-cell-phone/511970/6 "2009-09-29T15:45:13Z")
> [@gitfiddle](#): > > Well, that’s good to know, I guess. > > People send spam faxes? Yeah, my office at my old job regularly got faxes for vacations and cruises. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2009, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mysterious-beeping-restricted-calls-on-my-cell-phone/511970/7 "2009-09-29T16:59:21Z")
> [@gitfiddle](#): > > People send spam faxes? Dear Og, yes. I signed up for one of those free trial fax-to-email services, and told ONE person about the number, late at night, so I could receive a fax immediately. That person sent the fax and went to bed. So did I. The next morning, I had a spamfax of some dodgy ‘investment opportunity’ in my inbox. At one time around ten years ago I got so many spamfax messages recorded on my cellphone that I had to change the number. And since such spamfaxes usually tell you to read the fax to get unsubscription information, and there was no way O could get the recorded fax message out of my voicemail to a fax machine, I was stuck. Changing my numbewr was erasier than trying to forward it to a fax machine and hoping it would work, and then discovering that it didn’t. Your spamfax call probably had no caller-ID info, thus came up ‘restricted’ or ‘anonymous’ or ‘private’ or some such on your phone’s display.