You make a call from the office and the customer's mobile shows the wrong business name — or worse, a red "Spam" or "Scam Likely" warning. It's a common and frustrating problem, and the first instinct is usually to ring your phone provider and ask them to fix it. Unfortunately, that's not where the label comes from.

The short version: The business name — or a "spam"/"scam likely" warning — that your customer sees is decided by a third-party caller-ID and call-screening service running on the recipient's phone, not by Caznet, and not by the underlying carrier network that delivers the call. These companies maintain their own private databases, built without your involvement. Caznet cannot set, change or remove these labels, and Australian carriers have no control over them either. The good news: in most cases you can correct them yourself, usually for free, by contacting the relevant service directly.

This article explains who those services are, why they label your number the way they do, and exactly where to go to fix it. We've also put the whole thing into a one-page reference sheet you can download and keep on hand.

Caller ID Labelling — Customer Information Sheet Two-page PDF · who labels your number and exactly where to fix it
Download PDF

Why it happens — and where the name comes from

These services build their databases automatically from several sources, then score every number using machine learning:

  • Public listings & the web — Google Business Profile, White Pages and Yellow Pages, the ABN/ABR register, your website and public social media.
  • Crowd reports — what other users have saved the number as in their contacts, plus "mark as spam" taps from people who received calls.
  • Number history — if a number previously belonged to another business, that old name often lingers for months after it's reassigned to you.
  • Calling pattern — high call volume, very short calls, or low answer rates automatically push a number toward a "spam" score.

Important: each service keeps a separate database. Fixing your details with one provider does not carry across to the others — you may need to lodge with several to cover all your customers' handsets.

Who does the labelling

Service Where it shows up What you can do there
Hiya Built into Samsung phones ("Smart Call"); also powers some overseas carriers. The most common source of labels in Australia. Free Number Registration, free correction of a wrong name, and a one-time review for spam labels — at hiya.com/au/manageyourcallerid.
Truecaller A user-installed app on both Android and iPhone. Names are largely crowd-sourced from other users' address books. Request unlisting (removal) or a business listing / correction at truecaller.com.
Google Phone Android "Caller ID & spam" and Verified Calls (built into Pixel; downloadable on other Android phones). Submit caller-ID feedback in-app; businesses can enrol in Verified Calls to show their name, logo and call reason.
First Orion / TNS Power branded calling & spam scoring on US/Canadian carriers (T-Mobile, Verizon, AT&T). Rarely affect Australian-to-Australian calls. Listed for completeness — only relevant if you regularly call North American numbers.

How it appears, by phone type

Samsung (Android)

"Smart Call" is built in and powered by Hiya — the single most common cause of a wrong or "spam" label seen in Australia.

Other Android (Pixel, Oppo, Motorola and others)

These use the Google Phone app's "Caller ID & spam" feature; some users also install Truecaller.

iPhone (Apple)

iOS has no built-in third-party labelling, and Australian carriers don't push labels to iPhones. A name shows only if it's a saved contact, or if the user has installed an app like Truecaller or Hiya.

What to do — depending on your situation

1. Not labelled, but you want to be

Register free with Hiya (Number Registration) and enrol in Google Verified Calls. Keep your public listings consistent — your Google Business Profile, White Pages and website should all show the same name and number.

2. Labelled as the wrong business

This is almost always stale directory data or a reassigned number. Claim and correct your Google Business Profile, White Pages, ABN/ABR and socials first, then lodge a free correction with Hiya and use Truecaller's unlisting tool. Allow about a week per service.

3. Labelled, but you don't want to be

Submit a removal / "unlisting" request to Hiya and Truecaller, then clean up the public listings that feed the data — that's what makes the change stick, since these databases re-harvest public sources.

4. Labelled as "spam"

Start with free Hiya Number Registration and request its one-time review — the most effective first step. Repeat with each service, because scores don't transfer. Bear in mind that high call volume, very short calls and low answer rates also raise the score, and genuine recipient reports won't be removed.

Where to go — useful references

Fix it at the labelling service:

  • Hiya — registration & corrections: hiya.com/au/manageyourcallerid
  • Truecaller — unlist / business listing: truecaller.com
  • Google Phone app — Settings › "Caller ID & spam" › send feedback; or enrol in Verified Calls

Fix the underlying source data:

Tip: before lodging anything, search Google for your phone number in quotation marks — e.g. "08 1234 5678" — to see which listings the labelling services are likely picking up. Correcting those is half the battle.

Where Caznet fits in

We can't change or remove these labels — no telco can — and we can't see which service has labelled your number. The best path is to follow the steps above and contact the providers directly. That said, if you're unsure where to begin, our Adelaide team is glad to point you in the right direction. Download the one-page reference sheet above, or give us a call on 1300 229 638.