how to make anonymous calls

In today's day and age there is an expectation to know everything about everyone trying to contact us. At the same time we have become more suspicious of those who try to contact us without revealing their identity at the same time. Caller identification, a feature that has only been widely available on telephones for the last 15 or 20 years, has become something that most of us take for granted. Despite these expectations, there are still ways to make anonymous calls to those to whom we do not want to reveal our identity. Here are some steps you can take in order to make an anonymous call.

Steps

1. 
   

   
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   Determine if you want to make a land line or a cell phone.
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   Wait for a dial tone if you are using a land line phone (assuming you are not using a rotary phone). When you hear the tone type "*67" before you make a call. You will hear a double dial tone to let you know that you have now restricted your call without revealing your identity to those you are calling.
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   Use a cell phone to make a call anonymously if a land line phone is not available.
   

   • Before entering the number type "*67" just as you would if you were making an anonymous call from a land line phone. However, you do not need to wait for a double tone before entering the rest of your number as when using a land line phone.
     
     

     
   • Before entering the rest of the number in your cell phone make sure you enter "1" before the area code (some companies don't require dialing the 1 after "67", so if it doesn't work with the "1" try it without), a step which can be easily forgotten as it is typically not necessary when making calls from a cell phone. Instead of your cell phone number showing up on the caller ID of your call recipient's phone, the word "Restricted" will show up instead.
     
     

     
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   Determine if your cell phone has an option to hide your number to the recipients of your calls.
   

   • All cell phones are different, but some may offer an option to hide your number as a default setting for all calls. Check with your wireless provider if you are not sure how to implement this setting on your phone.
     
     

     
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   Ensure, if at all possible, that the individual you are trying to reach has not implemented an available feature called "Anonymous call rejection." While this is not available for cell phones it is an available feature on landlines through phone providers.
   

   • If you try to make an anonymous call to a number with this feature implemented a pre-recorded message will be played alerting you that the person does not accept anonymous calls. To reach this person you will need to call back without hiding your phone number if that is an option.
     
     

     
   • While this can be a useful tool to implement it can also screen out desired calls from callers that typically hide their numbers, such as doctor's offices, a police officer, or other offices or individuals who have a legitimate reason for consistently hiding their number.