---
name: phone-recon
description: >-
  Phone number lookup, caller ID, carrier identification, and VoIP analysis.
  Use when the user mentions: phone lookup, caller ID, phone number, carrier,
  VoIP, telephone, reverse phone, phone owner, spam caller, number validation.
user-invocable: false
---

# Phone & Telephone Reconnaissance

Phone number lookup, caller ID, carrier identification, reverse phone
search, and VoIP analysis.

## Legal Notice

All tools use publicly available information only. Users must comply
with applicable laws and platform terms of service.

## Tools Reference

Read `skills/phone-recon/references/tools.md` for the complete
list of 13 free/freemium tools in this category.

## Web Resources

| Tool | URL | Pricing | Best For |
| ------ | ----- | --------- | ---------- |
| Slydial | slydial.com | Freemium | Voicemail-direct delivery without ringing |
| Numbering Plans | numberingplans.com | Free | International numbering plan validation |
| Numberway | numberway.com | Freemium | Reverse phone owner and location lookup |
| CallerID Test | calleridtest.com | Freemium | Caller ID behavior and number validation |
| True Caller | truecaller.com | Freemium | Caller ID enrichment and spam reputation |
| Reverse Genie | reversegenie.com | Free | Quick reverse number triage |
| SpyDialer | spydialer.com | Freemium | Phone attribution and voicemail lookup |
| Phone Validator | phonevalidator.com | Free | Number format, type, and carrier validation |
| Phonerator | martinvigo.com/phonerator | Free | Phone number pattern generation for testing |
| Numspy-Api | numspy.pythonanywhere.com | Freemium | Programmatic phone number verification |
| Family Tree Now | familytreenow.com | Freemium | Phone-to-person and household pivoting |
| Whitepages Reverse Phone | whitepages.com/reverse-phone | Freemium | US reverse phone attribution |
| Hiya | hiya.com | Freemium | Spam classification and caller ID enrichment |

## Subcategories

- **Voicemail** -- Direct voicemail access and voicemail-based intelligence (Slydial, SpyDialer)
- **Caller ID** -- Identify callers and check spam reputation (True Caller, Hiya, CallerID Test)
- **Carrier Lookup** -- Validate number format, line type, and carrier (Phone Validator, Numbering Plans)
- **VoIP & Number Generation** -- Generate test numbers and verify VoIP lines (Phonerator, Numspy-Api)
- **Reverse Phone** -- Look up owner, address, and associated records from a phone number (Reverse Genie, Numberway, Whitepages, SpyDialer, Family Tree Now)

## Delegation

### Tool Lookup

```
Agent(
  subagent_type="osint-framework:osint-researcher",
  description="Phone reconnaissance tool search",
  prompt="Find OSINT tools for phone number investigation.\n
    Read skills/phone-recon/references/tools.md\n
    Return recommendations matching the user's specific need."
)
```

### Active Investigation

```
Agent(
  subagent_type="osint-framework:osint-investigator",
  description="Phone reconnaissance investigation: [target]",
  prompt="Investigate phone number: [target]\n\n
    Primary: Read skills/phone-recon/references/tools.md\n
    Secondary: Read skills/people-search/references/tools.md\n
    Execute available CLI tools, query web resources, report findings.\n
    Start with passive validation before active lookups."
)
```

## Investigation Workflow

1. **Validate**: Check number format, line type (mobile/landline/VoIP), and carrier with Phone Validator
2. **International Context**: For non-US numbers, use Numbering Plans to identify country and carrier
3. **Reverse Lookup**: Query Reverse Genie, Whitepages, and Numberway for owner and address data
4. **Caller ID**: Check True Caller and Hiya for caller identity and spam/scam flags
5. **Voicemail Probe**: Use SpyDialer for voicemail-based intelligence gathering
6. **People Pivot**: If owner identified, pivot to `people-search` for deeper profile
7. **Messaging Pivot**: Check if number is registered on messaging platforms via `messaging-comms`
8. **Username Pivot**: Search for phone-linked accounts via `username-recon`

## Cross-Category Pivots

| When you find... | Pivot to |
| ------------------ | ---------- |
| Owner name from reverse lookup | `people-search` -- Background checks, address history |
| Number linked to messaging apps | `messaging-comms` -- Telegram, WhatsApp, Signal lookups |
| Username associated with number | `username-recon` -- Cross-platform username search |
| Email associated with owner | `email-recon` -- Email verification, breach checks |

## OPSEC Notes

- Most tools are **passive** but Slydial and Numspy-Api are **active** -- they may generate calls or API requests traceable to you
- True Caller and Hiya require **registration**; use a research persona, not your real identity
- SpyDialer requires **registration** and may log your queries
- Freemium tools (8 of 13) offer limited free lookups; heavy use may require payment or trigger rate limits
- Reverse phone lookups may return outdated or inaccurate data; cross-reference across multiple tools
- Family Tree Now results may include sensitive relationship data; handle ethically
- Never use Slydial's voicemail drop feature to impersonate or harass