Very often when you get a call from someone unknown,
you’ll see a number that you don’t recognize. Since you don’t know this person,
it can be quite normal to avoid this caller altogether, since calling them back
might seem a bit odd. In any case, if you happen to be curious, or want to
investigate someone who’s trying to harass you, there exist services and tools
you can use that allow you to perform what’s called a Reverse Phone Lookup. You
can find these services on a number of different websites, although most of
them tend to offer the same kind of information if you only use free services.
What to Expect
When you use free reverse phone lookup services such as
whitepages.com, phonelookup.com, and many more, they will simply offer a prompt
where you can enter in the phone number that you want to look up. If the number
is unlisted, the most that you’ll be able to get is the general location and
carrier behind the number, as well as whether it’s a cell phone, landline, VoIP
number, and so on.
Deeper lookups are usually hidden behind a paywall, and
even then results are not guaranteed. Finding the actual owner of a phone
number is a bit more difficult, and often relies on user-maintained databases
of information rather than official sources of phone numbers.
Are they legal?
Reverse phone lookup services are about as legal as an
ordinary phonebook. They base most of their information on actual phonebook
directories, but since a lot of people like to remain unlisted, these online
services may not be as useful as they could be. Still, they are quite easy to
use, much easier than an ordinary phonebook. All you have to do is enter in the
desired phone number, and you’ll get results back.
A Few Services
As mentioned, whitepages.com and phonelookup.com are both
decent services with free reverse lookups available. They both offer very
similar kinds of information such as line type, address or general location,
and so on. Another good one is cellrevealer.us, which makes use of a private
directory.
Due to things like number porting (when switching from
one carrier to another), it’s possible for the information you get to be a
little dated and/or inaccurate. Overall, though, they all tend to work fairly
well, especially if the owner in question has decided to keep their number
published in well-known directories.
Free vs. Paid
If you decide that you don’t want to pay for reverse
phone lookup services, the information you get back will likely be limited in
some fashion. Do note that some of the information hidden behind these paywalls
may be easily accessible in a simple phonebook. If so, you’re mostly paying for
the convenience of a computer automatically picking out the information for
you.
For many people, having the general information provided
by free reverse phone lookups is adequate for narrowing down their search. Most
of the time you will not need detailed owner information unless you’re trying
to catch or report criminal activity.