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The Five-Digit Desk

Short codes, explainedFind a sender

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Code notes

Particular numbers, and how to trace the sender behind any of them.

3 notes, 2016

The longest page here, a lookup of well-known U.S. short codes, starts with the checks anyone can make on a number: the reply to HELP, the carrier’s customer service and the Short Code Registry’s own lookup. It then lists codes in wide use in 2016, each with the company that used it and the source that shows it.

Two shorter notes deal with single codes. 86753 was Venmo’s number in 2016; its note covers what the payment service sends from that number, how to stop it and how to spot messages that only pretend to come from it. 80810 carried political messages around the November 2016 election. That note sets out how to stop the texts and summarizes what federal law says about political messages sent to cell phones.

Newest first

  1. Two office workers walk through a lobby while talking on their phones

    01

    Short code 80810

    The number behind a political text program follows the same carrier rules as a retailer's coupon code, and federal law adds a consent requirement of its own.

  2. Close-up of a phone keypad with a SIM card resting on the keys

    02

    A lookup of well-known U.S. short codes

    A short code carries no name of its own. The quickest way to learn who runs one is to ask the code itself, then check the answer against the sender's own website.

  3. A group of young friends stand outside, each using a mobile phone

    03

    Short code 86753: Venmo

    Venmo's verification and sign-in codes come from one five-digit number. Knowing that number is the simplest defense against texts that only pretend to be Venmo.