Searching for reverse phone lookup services can get complicated. You may start out with a simple Google search, hoping it will quickly appear and you'll find the information you desire with very little work. Yet what actually appears is a long list of paid directories which vary from under a dollar for one number search to upwards of fifteen dollars for a service subscription.
Changing your search to include free reverse phone lookup brings additional pay services sneaking in claims that they are completely free. They sometimes allow you to enter the number without mention of a fee and deliver very useless information such as the city and state, but if you want to obtain the useful details like a name or address you will then be requested to pay.
Absolutely free reverse phone lookup does not exist. Providers of this data go to great efforts and even money to assemble information such as unpublished home phone numbers, cell phone numbers, and even address histories. These businesses have no purpose to collect this information other than to deliver it to buyers for a nominal charge.
Where you go from this point depends on how much you really want to find out the name connected to that phone number. In the age of identity fraud many people won't just pick the cheapest site and enter their private information. Finding the most trustworthy sites is just as important as when you purchase clothing or purses over the internet.
Getting the information you desire isn't very hard, once you find a proven source.
There are many competing websites all with different charges and offering different combinations of information. When you only need to know the name registered with a unidentified number calling your home or wish to determine exactly who your child is chatting with in the middle of the night, you probably don't have the time to compare different services.
The easiest answer may be to go with a brand that many people have grown up with and use the online version of the yellow pages. There is a sense of safety with a common popular name that has been used for years. You can look up a phone number and get the most basic information here without a fee, including if the number is a cell phone or residential line and a map indicating the general location of a home or business. You won't get much more than that, especially if you are researching a cell phone or a home phone number that is unpublished.
Be careful at this point because there are links from these pages that promise additional information, such as registered names and desired addresses, for a charge. These links go to different webpages, so you have left the security of the white pages website so you must verify the legitimacy of these services just like any other. Yellow pages itself is not going to reveal much information besides a general location; you will need to look elsewhere for anything else, especially if you want to research a cell phone or unlisted number.
The most effective way to find reverse phone lookup directories for basic needs is to find a trustworthy directory with a reasonable one time charge paid with a secure payment system. If you just want a one time lookup then it is usually not worth the money to sign up for a unlimited directory. Locate one that delivers a one time search for a minor charge, usually just a dollar or two.
Shelling out a high charge for small amounts of information or being asked to secure information by delivering personal information through email or other non-secure forms are obvious warnings of a scam.