Looking for reverse phone lookup directories can become confusing. You may begin with a quick Google search, believing it will automatically appear and you'll find the information you require with very little effort. Yet what actually comes up is a series of paid directories which vary from under a dollar for one lookup to upwards of fifteen dollars for a long term subscription.
Revising your search to include free reverse phone lookup delivers additional pay services advertising claims to be free. They sometimes allow you to type in the number free of charge and give very basic information such as the city and state, but if you need to get the important details such as a name or address you will then be asked to pay.
Totally free reverse phone lookup does not exist. Providers of this data put out great measures and even money to compile information such as unpublished home phone numbers, cellular numbers, and sometimes address histories. They have no purpose to collect this information other than to deliver it to you for a small charge.
whether you move forward from here depends on how badly you really want to reveal the name registered to that phone number. In the age of identity fraud most people won't just access the first site they find and enter their credit card information. Finding the most reputable directories is just as important as when you shop for tennis shoes or purses over the internet.
Getting the information you need isn't very hard, once you access a legitimate lookup directory.
There are many competitive directories all with different charges and delivering different combinations of data. When you only want to determine the person behind a strange phone number calling your home or need to determine exactly who your teenager is talking with in the middle of the night, you probably don't have the patience to evaluate different directories.
The easiest answer may be to go with a brand that many people have grown up with and use the web-based version of the yellow pages. There is a sense of legitimacy when you use a common popular name that has been used for years. You can search a phone number and get the most basic information here for free, including whether the number is a cell phone or home line and a map indicating the general location of a home or business. You won't get much beyond that, especially if you are researching a cell phone or a landline that is unpublished.
Be aware at this point because there will be links on these pages that offer additional information, including registered names and residential addresses, for a fee. These links lead to different sites, so you have left the security of the white pages website so you should ensure the security of these websites just like any other. Yellow pages itself is not going to reveal much information other than a general location; you will need to search elsewhere for anything else, especially if you want to know about a cell phone or unpublished number.
The most effective way to find reverse phone lookup services for basic needs is to go to a trustworthy service with a small one time fee collected with a secure payment system. If you only need a one time number search then it is probably not worth the money to sign up for a more detailed directory. Find one that offers a one time lookup for a minor fee, often just a buck or two.
Forking over a huge fee for small amounts of information or being asked to pay by delivering card numbers by email or other non-secure methods are flashing warnings of a scam.