# How to read your result

**Your result shows what a real phone on each carrier you checked displayed when your number called it: the warning label (if any), the caller name (if any), and a screenshot of the screen.** If there's a label, people on that carrier are seeing a spam warning when you call. If there's no label, your number looked clean on that carrier at the moment of the check.

Read each carrier's result on its own. A number can be flagged on one carrier and clean on another. Every result reflects **one moment in time**. See [coverage](/coverage).

## What's in a result

You get these for each carrier you check:

| Field | What it shows |
|---|---|
| **Carrier** | AT&T, Verizon or T-Mobile |
| **Label** | The warning text the phone displayed, or "none" |
| **Caller name** | The name displayed for your number, or blank if none showed |
| **Screenshot** | The actual incoming-call screen on our test phone |
| **Checked at** | Date and time of the check |
| **Status** | Complete, or Incomplete if no call from your number reached that phone (see Outcome 4) |

## Outcome 1: A warning label appeared

**People on that carrier see a spam warning when you call.** Many people won't answer a labeled call, so expect fewer answered calls until it clears.

Labels we've seen on our test phones:

| Label | Where it comes from |
|---|---|
| Suspected Spam Caller | The Android phone's built-in spam protection. It's the warning Google's Phone app shows, and that protection is on by default. |

Each carrier also has its own wording. We'll add these to the table as we see them on our test phones:

| Carrier | Its own labels | Supplied by |
|---|---|---|
| AT&T | "Spam Risk," "Fraud Risk" (blocked) | Hiya |
| Verizon | "Potential Spam," "Potential Fraud," "Robo caller," "SPAM?" | TNS |
| T-Mobile | "Scam Likely" | First Orion |

**A label can come from the carrier or from the phone.** Each carrier's labels come from its analytics provider. A phone's built-in protection, like Google's, makes its own judgment, partly from people marking calls as spam. Both depend heavily on how recipients respond: Hiya says reputation depends mainly on spam reports and blocked calls. Calling patterns like high volume with very short calls can also contribute, and so can a previous owner's history with the number.

### What to do next

1. **Request a review from that carrier's analytics provider.** Each carrier has its own process: [AT&T (Hiya)](/guides/remove-spam-label-att) · [Verizon](/guides/remove-spam-label-verizon) · [T-Mobile (First Orion)](/guides/remove-scam-likely-tmobile)
2. **Register with the Free Caller Registry** ([freecallerregistry.com](https://freecallerregistry.com)). It's free and sends your details to Hiya, TNS and First Orion in one step.
3. **Fix what's causing it.** A review won't stick if the cause continues. Call people who expect to hear from you, honor opt-out requests promptly, and avoid patterns of high-volume, very short calls. Removing a label without fixing the calling behavior behind it means the label will likely come back.
4. **Re-check every few days.** Reviews take time, commonly days to weeks. For example, Hiya only works tickets on business days, and one provider's published procedure estimates a typical Hiya response in 3–5 business days.

Google's help page explains how people can mark a call "Not spam," but doesn't describe a review process for businesses. For a label that comes from the phone itself, fixing the cause and registering your number are the steps you control.

We don't remove labels and we can't speed up a review. A re-check just tells you, from real phones, whether the label is gone.

## Outcome 2: No label

**Your number showed clean on that carrier at the time of the check.** People on that carrier saw your call without a spam warning.

Keep in mind:
- **It's one carrier.** If you checked only one, the other two may label your number differently.
- **It's a snapshot.** Labels can appear later, especially after a jump in call volume or complaints. If you're about to start a campaign or put a new number into a dialer, re-check once calls are underway.

## Outcome 3: The caller name is wrong or missing

**The label and the caller name are separate.** A clean number can still show no name, an old name, or just a city. That's not a spam flag, but it can still cost you answers.

- **Missing or outdated name:** ask your phone service provider how to set or update the caller name (CNAM) for your number.
- **Business numbers:** Hiya's Number Registration says it can also help with caller ID display issues.

**What "caller name" means in your result:** everything our phone displayed for your number other than the warning label, such as a business name or a city. It's blank if the phone showed only your number.

## Outcome 4: Incomplete

**An Incomplete result means that carrier's phone didn't receive a call from your number within the dialing window, or couldn't read the screen before the call ended.** Incomplete checks are free: you're only charged when we return a result.

You have **2 minutes** for one carrier, plus **1 minute** for each additional carrier. Common reasons for an Incomplete:

- **The call didn't come from the number being checked.** If your caller ID is hidden (for example, by dialing *67 first), or your phone system shows a different outgoing number, we can't match the call. We never spoof numbers, so the call has to come from the number itself.
- **You didn't call in time,** or skipped one of the carriers' test lines. Start a new check and call each line within the window.
- **The call ended before our phone could read it,** for example if you hung up the moment it started ringing. Stay on the line until it goes to voicemail.
- **The call was blocked before it reached our phone.** Carriers can block calls they judge high-risk. On AT&T, calls marked "Fraud Risk" are blocked automatically and never ring. If you called from the right number, with caller ID showing, and still got Incomplete, treat it as a serious warning sign.

If you think your calls are being blocked, check your phone's call log or your provider's call records. Developers should look for SIP 603+ ("Network Blocked") or older 608 responses: [What SIP 603+ and 608 mean](/guides/sip-603-plus-608-network-blocked).

You can check the same number once an hour.

## FAQ

### What does "Spam Likely" mean when I call someone?
It means the recipient's carrier or phone flagged your call as likely spam. It's a warning label, not a block: the call still rings, but many people won't answer. Each carrier uses its own wording, and "Spam Likely" has become the everyday term for all of them.

### What does "Suspected spam caller" mean?
It's the spam warning Google's Phone app shows on Android phones when it judges a call likely spam. It comes from the phone's built-in protection, not the carrier, so it can appear on any carrier.

### My result is clean, so why did someone tell me I came up as spam?
If you checked only one carrier, they may be on another. They may also use a third-party call-blocking app or a different phone setup, or the label may have changed since.

### Can you remove the label for me?
No. We only check. Labels are removed by the carrier's analytics provider after a review: Hiya for AT&T, TNS for Verizon, First Orion for T-Mobile. Use our re-checks to confirm when it's cleared.

### How often should I re-check a flagged number?
Every few days while a review is in progress. Reviews commonly take days to weeks.

## Sources

- [Google: Use caller ID & spam protection](https://support.google.com/phoneapp/answer/3459196?hl=en)
- [Verizon voice spam feedback](https://voicespamfeedback.com/vsf/)
- [AT&T ActiveArmor terms of service](https://www.att.com/activearmormseula)
- [T-Mobile: Scam Shield](https://www.t-mobile.com/benefits/scam-shield)
- [Zoho Voice: Whitelisting your phone numbers (US)](https://help.zoho.com/portal/en/kb/zoho-voice/setup/articles/whitelisting-your-phone-numbers-us-only)
- [Hiya Help: My phone number is labeled as spam](https://apphelp.hiya.com/en/articles/28-my-phone-number-is-labeled-as-spam-—-how-to-fix-it)
- [Hiya Connect: Branded Call FAQ](https://connect-support.hiya.com/hc/en-us/articles/1500006429402-Branded-Call-Frequently-Asked-Questions)
- [Hiya Connect: Caller reputation and spam label help](https://connect-support.hiya.com/hc/en-us/articles/54311390207891-Caller-reputation-and-spam-label-help)
- [TNS: FreeCallerRegistry.com launch](https://tnsi.com/?p=2046)
- [CXDO: Removal from robocall analytics](https://cxdo.helpjuice.com/en_US/how-to-guides/removalfromrobocallanalytics)
- [CallerID Reputation: Self-remediation with Hiya & AT&T](https://kb.calleridreputation.com/self-remediation-with-hiya-att)