Lumen Trust & Safety FAQs for Customers
Last Updated: August 19, 2021
Welcome to the Trust & Safety FAQ Page designed for Lumen customers.
As a Lumen customer, you are looking for assistance or information about yourself. Please select an FAQ below.
- Who do I contact if I want to report threatening, abusive, or obscene calls?
- What can I do about hang up calls?
- Who do I call to stop telemarketing calls?
- What can I do about debt collection calls?
- Can I block callers?
- How do I get copies of my bill?
- Who do I call if I received a call from a missing person?
- What can I do if I think my telephone number might be tapped?
- Who can I contact about identity theft or fraud related to my Lumen service?
- Who do I call if I want to report theft of a telecom service?
- How do I find the Service Provider for a telephone number?
- Where do I report a damage incident related to Lumen services?
- Where do I send a legal demand?
- What kinds of records are available to a customer?
- What time frames are various records available?
- What are the fees, if any, for Trust & Safety assistance?
- What are the Trust & Safety team's hours of operation?
- What kinds of legal processes are there that would request customer information from Lumen?
- Can Lumen offer legal advice?
- What is a Copyright subpoena?
- I received notification of a Copyright subpoena. Why do they want my information and what's the process I'll be going through?
- Who can I talk to about a notice of a Copyright subpoena from Lumen?
- How can I find out about the status of a subpoena?
- What is the Digital Millennium Copyright Act or DMCA?
- What is the difference between a DMCA notice and notification of a copyright subpoena?
- What will Lumen tell a copyright owner about me?
- If I am using a wireless router, how do I protect my network?
- Does Lumen track internet content?
- What is the difference between a Dynamic and a Static IP Address?
- If I know the IP Address, how do I find the Internet Service Provider?
- How can I contact the Trust & Safety team if I still have questions?
- As a former Level3 customer, how can I request my data?
Who do I contact if I want to report threatening, abusive, or obscene calls?
Always contact your local Law Enforcement Agency and they will contact Lumen for assistance.
In addition to contacting Law Enforcement, you may consider Lumen's Call Trace feature.
The *57 feature can be used at any time but will only trace the last incoming call. There is no required amount of time that the caller needs to be on the line; there simply needs to be a connection made.
To trace a call, hang up from the call. Pick the phone back up and be sure to obtain a clear dial tone. Dial *57 and listen to the recorded information provided. The recording will not provide the calling party's phone number; it will only indicate whether or not you've had a successful trace.
If you hear a fast busy instead of a recording, please speak with a Lumen customer service representative to check the availability of the Call Trace feature. Business Office numbers can be found on your Lumen bill.
There is a per use fee applied when you successfully trace a call. Fees vary per state. Please contact the Business Office for more information on rates. If the trace was not successful, there is no charge.
The Call Trace feature will also trace calls that are intentionally being blocked by the caller. That means that Private, Blocked or Restricted calls can be traced. Unknown, Unavailable or Out of Area calls cannot be traced.
Once you have traced the call, contact your local Law Enforcement Agency. The trace results will only be released to a Law Enforcement Agency with a subpoena or court order. A successful trace will include the phone number captured and if that phone number is serviced by Lumen, the name and address will be released. If your Law Enforcement Agency has any questions regarding this process, please have them call the Lumen Trust & Safety team at 877-451-1980, or have them email:
What can I do about hang up calls?
Hang up calls are often from telemarketers with auto dialing devices that sometimes call more numbers than they have operators available. Calls may be received between 7am and 9pm, 7 days a week. It is not unusual to receive three to five calls per day.
The best way to stop those calls is to register your phone number on the Federal Trade Commission's National Do Not Call Registry. Federal Do Not Call laws allow you to place residential landline and wireless phone numbers on the National Do Not Call Registry to prevent telemarketing calls to those numbers. If you would like to add your numbers to this list, you may do so by calling 1‑888‑382‑1222, or by visiting www.donotcall.gov. Some states provide their own Do Not Call List. Please contact your State Attorney General for details.
Please note that being on a federal or state Do Not Call list will not keep Lumen customers from receiving our marketing calls because we have an established business relationship with our customers.
Residential customers who do not want to receive our marketing telephone calls may ask to be placed on our internal Do Not Call list. If a current Lumen customer does not want to receive our marketing calls, the customer must expressly tell us not to call by getting on our internal Do Not Call list. You can also contact the Business Office number found on your Lumen bill.
It may take up to thirty days for your choices regarding marketing contacts to become effective. If you are our customer, you will still receive bills, service‑related contacts and notices from Lumen even if you choose not to receive marketing contacts.
Who do I call to stop telemarketing calls?
Federal Do Not Call laws allow you to place residential landline and wireless phone numbers on the National Do Not Call Registry to prevent telemarketing calls to those numbers. If you would like to add your numbers to this list, you may do so by calling 1‑888‑382‑1222, or by visiting www.donotcall.gov.
Please note that being on a federal or state Do Not Call list will not keep Lumen customers from receiving our marketing calls because we have an established business relationship with our customers.
Residential customers who do not want to receive Lumen marketing telephone calls may ask to be placed on our internal Do Not Call list. If a current Lumen customer does not want to receive our marketing calls, the customer must expressly tell us not to call by getting on our internal Do Not Call list. You can also contact the Business Office number found on your Lumen bill.
It may take up to thirty days for your choices regarding marketing contacts from Lumen to become effective. If you are our customer, you will still receive bills, service‑related contacts and notices from Lumen even if you choose not to receive marketing contacts.
Call blocking is a feature that may be placed on your telephone number. The Lumen Trust & Safety team is not able to add features. Call blocking is not available in all areas. For assistance with the call blocking feature, or any other feature, please speak to a Lumen customer service representative for more information. Contact the Business Office number found on your Lumen bill.
How do I get copies of my bill?
You can obtain your billing information in these ways:
- Access your account online through the Control Center (Business) or My CenturyLink (Residential).
- Speak with a Lumen customer service representative by contacting the Business Office number found on your Lumen bill.
Who do I call if I received a call from a missing person?
Always contact your local Law Enforcement Agency and they will contact Lumen for assistance. In addition to contacting Law Enforcement, you may consider reviewing the FAQ on our Call Trace feature.
What can I do if I think my telephone number might be tapped?
If you suspect your telephone or Internet conversation is being illegally monitored (wiretapped), please contact Lumen Repair department by calling the Repair number found on your billing statement or in your directory. You can also open a Repair ticket online via the Control Center (Business) or My CenturyLink (Residential). Repair will log your concern and a technician will evaluate your line.
Who can I contact about identity theft or fraud related to my Lumen service?
The Lumen Fraud Management Operations Center is committed to eliminating revenue losses due to fraud through investigation, education, and policy enforcement, acting ethically and with integrity. The fraud team aggressively researches solutions to emerging fraud trends by determining the root cause and implementing preventative measures affecting process and/or policy changes.
If you are a customer and wish to report fraud related to your Lumen service or to report a fraudulent incident, please contact the Business Office number found on your Lumen bill.
You can also email the fraud organization at:
How do I find the Service Provider for a telephone number?
Telcodata is a website that will locate the name of the Telecommunication Service Provider when provided with an area code and prefix. This site will also break down the area code and prefix on "pooled numbers" which are numbers split between several different service providers. For example, 720-287 is pooled between 4 different service providers. Telcodata will show which Service Provider handles each pooled set of numbers.
Telcodata is not maintained by Lumen. Lumen cannot ensure the accuracy of the results provided by Telcodata.
Where do I report a damage incident related to Lumen services?
UNIcall, 866-864-2255, is the risk incident notification network for Lumen. UNIcall may be used by customers in the following circumstances:
- Report damage to a customer's property.
- Report damage caused by the public to Lumen's property including: phone lines, poles, cables, boxes, facilities.
Where do I send a legal demand?
All subpoenas issued in civil cases must be served on Lumen's registered agent for service of process, CT Corporation. CT Corporation is authorized to accept subpoenas on behalf of any Lumen entity registered to do business by the secretaries of state. You may visit your Secretary of State website for more information. You may also contact CT Corporation at 1-800-624-0909 or visit their website at http://ct.wolterskluwer.com/ctcorporation.
PLEASE NOTE: CT Corporation cannot provide any information other than how to submit a subpoena. If you have any other question or concerns, please contact the Lumen Law Enforcement team at 877-451-1980, or email us at:
What kinds of records are available to a customer?
Bill Statements
A customer can obtain copies of their billing statements for the most recent 12 months by accessing their account online through the Control Center (Business) or My CenturyLink (Residential). If you require statements older than 12 months, Lumen can provide copies of bill statements with proper customer authorization. Applicable fees may apply .
For additional assistance, speak with a Lumen customer service representative by contacting the Business Office number found on your Lumen bill.
No information about other Lumen customers will be released without a subpoena or court order specifically requesting the above information. Please see our Third‑Party Requestor FAQ What kinds of records are available to a third party?
Call Trace Results (*57)
Once you have traced a call, contact your local Law Enforcement Agency. The trace results will only be released with a subpoena or court order. A successful trace will include the phone number captured and if that phone number is serviced by Lumen, the name and address of the subscriber will be released. If your Law Enforcement Agency has any questions regarding this process, please have them call the Lumen Trust & Safety team at 877‑451‑1980, or email us at:
See additional information about Call Trace.
Internet Protocol (IP) Subscriber Information
Internet Protocol information may include the name, address, associated phone number, user ID and time logs of the assigned Lumen customer. Lumen cannot process requests for IP subscriber information without being provided an exact date, time and time zone. Please note that no information will be released without a subpoena, court order, or other legal demand specifically requesting this information. Applicable fees may apply.
Local Call Detail
Lumen customers are charged for dial tone, not per call; therefore, local call detail will not appear on your bill.
Records of local calls are not maintained in the normal course of business. To attempt to retrieve local call detail, Lumen must perform an extensive search of raw switch data and then attempt to assemble the relevant data into a report that can be understood by the requesting party. There is no guarantee that any particular local call record will be obtained. Applicable fees apply to any requesting party, including Law Enforcement agencies because this is data that is not maintained in the normal course of Lumen's business. No information will be released without a subpoena, court order, or other legal demand specifically requesting this information.
Payment
Payment information may include records of bank, credit card or electronic fund transfer payments. Your payment information can be found in your online bill/account. For further assistance, please speak with a Lumen customer service representative by contacting the Business Office number found on your Lumen bill.
Payment information can also be procured from your financial institution.
Subscriber
Subscriber, or customer, information may include customer name, physical address, billing address, account start date, account end date, current account status, associated numbers, authorized users, types of services, email addresses and/or balance information. A customer may obtain this information about their own account, much of which is available on MyAccount. For additional assistance, speak with a Lumen customer service representative by contacting the Business Office number found on your Lumen bill.
No information about other Lumen customers will be released without a subpoena or court order specifically requesting the above information. Please see our Third‑Party Requestor FAQ What kinds of records are available to a third party?
Toll / Long Distance Call Detail
An itemized list of outgoing toll/long distance calls, incoming collect calls, calling cards or third party billed calls may be available on your billing statement. If you have an unlimited long distance plan, an itemized list may not appear on your billing statement, however the records may appear in your online account through the Control Center (Business) or My CenturyLink (Residential). Lumen can provide available toll records of outgoing call detail with proper customer authorization. Applicable fees may apply .
Prior to billing, Lumen may not be able to provide all information that will ultimately appear on the customer's billing statement.
For additional assistance, speak with a Lumen customer service representative by contacting the Business Office number found on your Lumen bill.
No information about other Lumen customers will be released without a subpoena or court order specifically requesting the above information. Please see our Third‑Party Requestor FAQ What kinds of records are available to a third party?
Voice Messaging
You can access your voice‑mail messages as long as you have not deleted them. Lumen cannot retrieve voice‑mail messages once they have been deleted, or if your service has been disconnected. For further assistance, please speak with a Lumen customer service representative by contacting the Business Office number found on your Lumen bill.
What time frames are various records available?
Generally, Lumen's data retention guidelines are as follows, although these guidelines are subject to multiple conditions:
- Billing Systems data - 6 years plus current year.
- Call Detail records - 1 year minimum.
- Internet IP Address information - Rolling 12 months.
- Long Distance billing records - 6 years plus current year.
- Voice Messages - Current messages are available based on certain dependencies for example, if account has not been disconnected, or the message has not been deleted.
What are the fees, if any, for Trust & Safety assistance?
Lumen charges fees for the collection of data simply to cover the cost of complying with court orders, subpoenas or other legal demands. Most of the fees charged do not compensate Lumen for the total cost of compliance. Applicable fees may apply.
What kinds of legal processes are there that would request customer information from Lumen?
Civil Subpoena
A Civil Subpoena is a discovery request for information used in civil proceedings between private parties. Civil subpoenas may be issued by the attorneys representing the parties in the case. Although there is no legal obligation, it is Lumen's general practice to provide notice to its customers of any civil subpoena requesting the customer's information in order to provide the customer with an opportunity to file an objection in the court where the civil case is filed.
Criminal Subpoena/Search Warrant
A Criminal Subpoena, or Search Warrant, is a discovery request for information in criminal investigations or formal proceedings. Most criminal subpoenas/search warrants are signed off on by a judge after a review of the law enforcement agency's application. A court case does not have to be filed prior to the issuance of an investigative subpoena or search warrant. Often, an investigatory subpoena will contain an order that the customer cannot be notified of the request for information.
Court Order
A Court Order is an order issued by a judge presiding over a civil or criminal case demanding information be released to the court. Court orders are required for the release of the "content" (for example, information contained in emails or web site visits, wiretaps, etc.) of a customer's communication.
A copyright owner may serve a subpoena on a service provider, like Lumen, requesting the identity of a customer alleged to be infringing on the owner's copyright by, for example, illegally downloading a movie to the customer's computer. The subpoena is issued by the clerk of any United States District Court upon a request by the copyright owner, or one authorized to act on the copyright owner's behalf.
I received notification of a Copyright subpoena. Why do they want my information and what's the process I'll be going through?
When Lumen is served a Copyright subpoena requesting identifying information on a particular IP address or addresses, Lumen is a third party to the subpoena, meaning we are required to provide certain information requested by the federal court. Lumen's practice is to notify our affected customers as a courtesy of possible future litigation. Once we provide the information to the federal court, Lumen has completed its legal requirement in the matter.
An example of what prompts a subpoena to be served on Lumen as a third party would be a production company suspecting illegal downloads of movies or music. They supply Lumen, as well as other Internet Service Providers, lists of IP addresses that logged onto various shared file sites. The plaintiff, in this example, the production company, is trying to identify individuals via IP addresses, who are suspected of alleged downloading of movies or music in an illegal manner. The production company's motivation is to recover lost royalties as they were not compensated for the downloaded product.
When Lumen is served a Copyright subpoena, Lumen is required by law to provide the following specifics to the requesting federal court:
- Account number
- Connection logs, meaning date and time when the IP assigned to an account, as provided by the production company, logged in and then logged out (was issued and released).
- User name associated with the account
- Customer information (for example, name, address, telephone number)
If you received a notification of a Copyright subpoena, you may decide to file an objection with the federal court (for example, a motion to 'quash'). If you wish to do so, contact the appropriate federal court named on the letter prior to the due date specified on the Lumen notification. Objections must be filed with the appropriate federal court; Lumen cannot assist with the filing. Contact the court clerk for information on filing the motion. The court, case name, and case number are provided in the notification.
Also notify Lumen Trust & Safety team of your objection prior to the date specified in the notification letter sent to you by calling 877-451-1980. Be prepared to leave a message including your name, call back number, and a Lumen case number, if available. You may also email us at:
A team member will respond within 1 business day.
Simply raising an objection with Lumen will not prevent the release of your information. Lumen can only withhold information with proper notification from the federal court if they rule in favor of your objection.
Lumen cannot provide more information about the subpoena itself and Lumen cannot provide legal advice to you regarding any objections you may have. Please consult with an attorney for legal assistance.
Who can I talk to about a notice of a Copyright subpoena from Lumen?
Lumen is firmly committed to protecting your privacy.
However, as stated in the notification letter sent by Lumen, Lumen received a subpoena which legally requires us to produce the information requested on the date specified. Lumen has no basis upon which to withhold the information or object to the subpoena on your behalf.
If you have objections to the subpoena requesting information about you, you must file your objections directly with the federal court handling the case, and notify the Lumen Trust & Safety team of your objection prior to the date specified in the notification letter sent to you. The court, case name, and case number are provided in the letter.
For specific filing or process questions, please speak to the clerk of the court specified. Notify the Lumen Trust & Safety team of your objection prior to the date specified in the notification letter sent to you by calling 877‑451‑1980. Be prepared to leave a message including your name, call back number, and a Lumen case number, if available. You may also email us at:
A team member will respond within 1 business day.
Lumen cannot provide more information about the subpoena itself and Lumen cannot provide legal advice to you regarding any objections you may have. Please consult with an attorney for legal assistance.
A team member will respond within 1 business day.
What is the Digital Millennium Copyright Act or DMCA?
The Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which is also known as the DMCA, was enacted by Congress in 1998 to help service providers (like Lumen) and copyright owners deal with some of the legal challenges created by digital media on the Internet. Among other things, the DMCA established guidelines and processes for copyright owners to send notices of alleged copyright violations to service providers. The notice identifies a particular copyright offense that is alleged to have occurred, the date and time of the activity, and the internet protocol (IP) address of the network or system on which the activity occurred. Access the U.S. Copyright Office's summary of the DMCA.
What is the difference between a DMCA notice and notification of a copyright subpoena?
A DMCA notice is provided for informational purposes only when Lumen is advised under the DMCA customers may have violated established guidelines. Under a DMCA notice none of your personal information will be released to a third party.
When you receive a notification of a subpoena from Lumen, it means that your subscriber information has been requested in a civil lawsuit and that Lumen is required to release that information if you do not file an objection with the court.
What will Lumen tell a copyright owner about me?
Lumen respects your privacy and will only provide information about you to a copyright owner in response to a subpoena or court order. If we receive a subpoena requesting information about your account, such as your name and address, our usual policy is to provide you advance notice and the opportunity to object to the disclosure with the court.
If you have additional questions about how we use, share, and protect the information we gather about our customers in the provision of our services, please reference our Privacy Notice.
If I am using a wireless router, how do I protect my network?
If I am using a wireless router, how do I protect my network?
If you connect wirelessly, Lumen strongly recommends securing your wireless modem with an encryption protocol to prevent unauthorized users from using your internet connection. Lumen provides specific instructions for securing devices. Find additional information about wireless encryption types and Lumen recommendations.
If you need additional assistance configuring your device or securing your wireless connection, you may contact technical support through online chat, email, or phone.
Does Lumen track internet content?
Lumen uses information generated on our networks to manage, plan, and develop networks, and to ensure reliability and efficiency of those networks. For example, we monitor data to check for viruses, control spam, prevent attacks that might disable our services, ensure traffic does not violate our subscriber agreements or our acceptable use policies, and guard against other inappropriate or illegal activity. This may involve looking at the characteristics of our network traffic, such as traffic volumes, beginning and ending points of transmissions, and the types of applications being used to send traffic across our network.
In limited circumstances, we need to look into the content of the data (such as the specific websites being visited, files being transmitted, or applications being used) for the purposes described above. We may also look into the content of the data when Lumen is concerned about fraud or harassment, to repair a detected problem, or when we are providing the content of broadband traffic to Law Enforcement when required and authorized by law.
Most of the specific information we obtain that is attributable to a user is kept only for a matter of hours or days. We may retain data for longer if, for example, we see patterns in the traffic that give us concerns about potential harm to our network, or if we are doing a specific study on the impact of certain applications used on our networks. We also may retain logs of the total amount of data transmitted, and the date, time, and duration of access to the Internet through our services by a user, including the user's IP address at the time.
For more information, visit Lumen’s Privacy Notice.
What is the difference between a Dynamic and a Static IP Address?
Dynamic IP Addresses change every time a user connects to the Lumen network. The majority of Lumen customers have Dynamic IP addresses. IP addresses are not specific to a certain city or state. The customer may be issued any IP address that is assigned to the switch's service area. The switch may cover multiple cities and states.
Static IP Addresses remain the same and are typically used by Large Businesses or Government Entities.
If I know the IP Address, how do I find the Internet Service Provider?
You can access the American Registry of Internet Numbers (ARIN) website to identify the Internet Service Provider of an IP address. Use the 'Search WHOISRWS' function located on the top of ARIN's home page.
ARIN is not maintained by Lumen. Lumen cannot ensure the accuracy of the results provided by ARIN.
How can I contact the Trust & Safety team if I still have questions?
If you have a question, please call 877-451-1980, and listen to the options presented. You will have to leave a message with your name, contact number, and reason for calling. Also include as much detailed information as possible, such as a Lumen case number or telephone number of interest, so we may quickly address your concerns. You may also email us at:
How can I contact the Trust & Safety team if I still have questions?
If you have a question, please call 877‑451‑1980, and listen to the options presented. You will have to leave a message with your name, contact number, and reason for calling. Also include as much detailed information as possible, such as a Lumen case number or telephone number of interest, so we may quickly address your concerns. You may also email us at:
A team member will respond within 1 business day.
As a former Level 3 customer, how can I request my data?
Customer data is available to customers through the customer portal.
If the data you seek is not available through the customer portal, please contact your Account Manager for further assistance. Note: Call Detail Records (CDRs) are retained for 2 years pursuant to Lumen’s data retention policy.
Not all products and services are available in all regions and countries; please contact a representative near you for details.
