Searching for reverse phone lookup services can become confusing. You may begin with a quick Google search, assuming it will quickly appear and you'll have the information you require with very little work. Yet what actually appears are various paid websites which vary from under a dollar for one number search to upwards of fifteen dollars for a long term subscription.
Editing your search to include free reverse phone lookup delivers additional pay services hiding behind claims to be free. They sometimes allow you to enter the number without mention of a fee and award you with very nominal information such as the city and state, but if you need to get the useful details such as a name or address you will once again be asked to hand over a fee.
Totally free reverse phone lookup does not exist. Providers of this data go to great efforts and even money to assemble information such as unlisted home phone numbers, cell phone numbers, and sometimes address histories. These businesses have no use for this information other than to make it available to you for a nominal fee.
Where you go from this point depends on how badly you really want to find out the person registered to that phone number. In the age of identity fraud most people won't just pick the first site they find and hand over their private information. Finding the most trustworthy sites is just as crucial as when you buy tennis shoes or handbags through the web.
Retrieving the information you desire isn't very hard, once you access a proven lookup directory.
There are many competitive directories all with different prices and offering different combinations of information. When you simply want to identify the name connected to a unidentified number calling your home or wish to determine exactly who your teenager is chatting with at all hours of the night, you probably don't have the time to evaluate different services.
The quickest solution may be to go with a brand that many people have grown up with and access the web-based version of the white pages. There is a sense of safety when you use a well known household name that has been around for years. You can look up a phone number and get the most basic information here free of charge, including if the number is a cell phone or home line and a map indicating the general location if it is a home or business. You won't get much more than that, especially if you are searching a cell phone or a home phone number that is unpublished.
Be careful at this point because there will be links from these pages that promise more information, like names and desired addresses, for a fee. These are links to different sites, so you have left the security of the yellow pages website so you should check the security of these services just like any other. White pages itself is not going to deliver much information besides a general location; you will have to look elsewhere for anything else, especially if you wish to research a cell phone or unlisted number.
The most effective way to locate reverse phone lookup directories for basic needs is to find a proven database with a nominal one time charge paid through a secure payment system. If you only need a one time number search then it is usually not worth the charge to commit to a unlimited service. Locate one that delivers a single lookup for a minor fee, usually just a buck or two.
Shelling out a high charge for very limited information or being asked to pay by sending card numbers through email or other non-secure methods are clear warnings of a scam.