0500 numbers UK — what happened to 0500 freephone?

0500 was the original UK freephone range, allocated by Ofcom in the 1980s. It was officially withdrawn on 3 June 2017 — every 0500 number was disconnected and the digits cannot be re-allocated. If you see 0500 on your caller ID in 2026, the number is either a museum-piece in an old database, or — far more commonly — a spoofed CLI used to make a scam call look like a brand you used to trust.

#The history — why 0500 existed and why it was withdrawn

0500 was launched by Mercury Communications in 1985 as the UK's first dedicated freephone range. When Mercury's parent merged into Cable & Wireless and later into Vodafone, the 0500 ranges became fragmented across providers. By 2015, Ofcom counted fewer than 10,000 0500 numbers still in service — a tiny fraction of the 1.7 million 0800 numbers — and the range carried a disproportionate administrative cost.

Ofcom consulted on withdrawal in 2015, gave holders two years' notice, and switched the range off on 3 June 2017. Holders were encouraged to port to 0808 (the modern freephone equivalent) before the cutoff.

#What if 0500 has called me in 2026?

Three possibilities, in descending order of likelihood:

1. Spoofed CLI. Far the most common explanation. A scam call-centre has set the displayed number to 0500-something to look like a legitimate freephone helpline you remember from years ago. Treat the call exactly as you would any other suspicious CLI.
2. Database error. Some old CRM systems still hold 0500 entries from pre-2017. If your phone provider's caller-ID lookup misfires on those entries, you might briefly see a 0500 label even though the underlying CLI is something else.
3. Non-UK number presented as UK. International gateways occasionally pass non-standard CLIs that get rendered with a 0500 prefix.

#Successor freephone ranges

If you used to ring a business on an 0500 number and want to know what to use now:

Both 0800 and 0808 are free to call from every UK landline and mobile. See 0345 vs 0800 for the consumer cost comparison across modern freephone and UK-rate prefixes.

#Look up an 0500 caller

Paste the full number into the lookup form on the homepage. We'll return 'Not in current Ofcom data' because the range is withdrawn — that result is itself a strong signal that the CLI was spoofed. The live AI internet check then summarises any public reports about the exact number.

#Bottom line

0500 is a museum prefix. Ofcom withdrew the range on 3 June 2017 and the digits cannot be re-allocated. An 0500 call in 2026 is almost certainly a spoofed CLI; treat it exactly as you would any other suspicious unknown caller, and ring back via a number you trust.