API reference

Check a phone number

Check a phone number for fraud reports. Request fields, response examples and integration guidance.

GET /tools/phone/check

Example request

Server-side HTTP request

curl --request GET \
  --url "https://api.strongmb.ng/v1/tools/phone/check?phone=0123456789" \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer $STRONGMB_API_KEY" \
  --header "Accept: application/json"

// Server-side Node.js 22+; never expose your key in a browser.
async function main() {
  const response = await fetch("https://api.strongmb.ng/v1/tools/phone/check?phone=0123456789", {
    method: "GET",
    headers: {
      Authorization: `Bearer ${process.env.STRONGMB_API_KEY}`,
      Accept: "application/json"
    },
    signal: AbortSignal.timeout(30000)
  });
  const result = await response.json();
  console.log(response.status, result);
}
main().catch(console.error);

<?php
// Requires the PHP cURL extension.
$client = curl_init('https://api.strongmb.ng/v1/tools/phone/check?phone=0123456789');
curl_setopt_array($client, [
    CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER => true,
    CURLOPT_CUSTOMREQUEST => 'GET',
    CURLOPT_TIMEOUT => 30,
    CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER => [
        'Authorization: Bearer ' . getenv('STRONGMB_API_KEY'),
        'Accept: application/json',
    ],
]);
$raw = curl_exec($client);
if ($raw === false) {
    throw new RuntimeException(curl_error($client));
}
$status = curl_getinfo($client, CURLINFO_HTTP_CODE);
curl_close($client);
$result = json_decode($raw, true, 512, JSON_THROW_ON_ERROR);
print_r(['http_status' => $status, 'response' => $result]);

require 'net/http'
require 'json'

uri = URI('https://api.strongmb.ng/v1/tools/phone/check?phone=0123456789')
http = Net::HTTP.new(uri.host, uri.port)
http.use_ssl = uri.scheme == 'https'
http.open_timeout = 10
http.read_timeout = 30
request = Net::HTTP::Get.new(uri)
request['Authorization'] = 'Bearer ' + ENV.fetch('STRONGMB_API_KEY')
request['Accept'] = 'application/json'
begin
  response = http.request(request)
  result = JSON.parse(response.body)
  puts({ http_status: response.code, response: result }.to_json)
rescue StandardError => error
  warn error.message
end

import json
import os
from urllib.request import Request, urlopen
from urllib.error import HTTPError, URLError

headers = {
    "Authorization": "Bearer " + os.environ["STRONGMB_API_KEY"],
    "Accept": "application/json",
}
body = None
request = Request(
    "https://api.strongmb.ng/v1/tools/phone/check?phone=0123456789",
    data=body, headers=headers, method="GET"
)
try:
    with urlopen(request, timeout=30) as response:
        result = json.load(response)
        print(response.status, result)
except HTTPError as error:
    print(error.code, error.read().decode("utf-8"))
except URLError as error:
    print("Network error:", error.reason)

Checks a Nigerian phone number against the Strongmb community fraud database. Returns the number of times it has been reported and the first/last seen dates. Use this before processing a purchase to flag potentially fraudulent recipients.

This endpoint is free — no charge, just include your standard API key. See strongmb.ng/reports/phone-reports to submit a report.

Query Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
phone	string	Required	Nigerian mobile number, 11 digits starting with 0 (e.g. 0123456789)

Request Example

HTTP

GET /v1/tools/phone/check?phone=0123456789 HTTP/1.1
Host: api.strongmb.ng
Authorization: Bearer sk_live_...
Accept: application/json

JSON — 200 Found

{
  "status": true,
  "message": "Phone number report stats fetched successfully.",
  "data": {
    "phone": "0123456789",
    "report_count": 3,
    "first_seen": "March 19, 2026, 12:00 AM",
    "last_seen": "May 19, 2026, 8:08 PM"
  },
  "metadata": {
    "code": "PHONE_REPORT_STATS_FETCHED",
    "timestamp": 1779217836,
    "trace_id": "DD971F54D8"
  }
}

JSON — 404 Not Found

{
  "status": false,
  "message": "No reports found for this phone number.",
  "data": null,
  "metadata": {
    "code": "ERR_PHONE_NUMBER_NOT_FOUND",
    "timestamp": 1779217786,
    "trace_id": "EB13653CA4"
  }
}

JSON — 422 Invalid

{
  "status": false,
  "message": "Invalid phone number.",
  "data": null,
  "metadata": {
    "code": "ERR_INVALID_MOBILE_NUMBER",
    "timestamp": 1779217800,
    "trace_id": "FA123456B7"
  }
}

Response Codes

Code	HTTP	Meaning
PHONE_REPORT_STATS_FETCHED	200	Number is in the fraud database. Read `report_count` to set your own block threshold — higher means more developers reported it. `first_seen` and `last_seen` show how long it has been active.
ERR_PHONE_NUMBER_NOT_FOUND	404	No reports exist for this number. It is not in the fraud database — safe to proceed with the transaction.
ERR_INVALID_MOBILE_NUMBER	422	The `phone` query parameter is not a valid Nigerian mobile number. Must be 11 digits starting with 0 (e.g. 0123456789).

Set your own threshold. Strict platforms block at report_count >= 1; lenient ones at report_count >= 3 or higher. Your platform, your rules.

Understand the request fields

Field	Integration guidance
`phone`	Recipient phone number. Preserve the leading zero. Confirm the network: prefixes do not account for ported numbers.

Response fields and types

Expand an object to explore its fields. [] indicates an array item. Error responses may return data: null.

Field path	JSON type	Meaning and handling
`status`	boolean	Whether this API request succeeded. Check the HTTP status and metadata.code when handling errors.
`message`	string	Human-readable description of the result. Use metadata.code for programmatic error handling instead of parsing this text.
`data`	null \| object	Response data. Check the result before reading nested fields; an error may return null or validation details.
`data.phone`	string	Phone number as a string; preserve its leading zero. For phone checks, this is the number queried.
`data.report_count`	integer	Number of community reports associated with the phone number. It is context, not proof of wrongdoing.
`data.first_seen`	string	First-seen timestamp in the phone-report result.
`data.last_seen`	string	Most recent seen timestamp in the phone-report result.
`metadata`	object	Diagnostic information about the response.
`metadata.code`	string	Machine-readable result code. Use it to distinguish validation, authentication and service errors.
`metadata.timestamp`	integer	Unix timestamp in seconds associated with the response.
`metadata.trace_id`	string	Correlation identifier for troubleshooting. Retain it with a redacted request when contacting support.

Always check metadata.code; do not rely on HTTP status alone. See response codes and recommended handling.

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