Looking for reverse phone lookup services can become complicated. You may start out with a quick Google search, assuming it will automatically pop up and you'll have the information you require with minimal work. Yet what actually comes up are various paid directories which range from less than a buck for one lookup to upwards of fifteen dollars for a long term subscription.
Editing your search to indicate free reverse phone lookup reveals additional pay services sneaking in claims that they are completely free. They sometimes allow you to enter the number free of charge and deliver very useless information such as the city or state, but if you need to see the useful information such as a name or address you will then be asked to hand over a fee.
Absolutely free reverse phone lookup is not possible at this point. Providers of this information put out great efforts and sometimes money to collect information such as unlisted landline numbers, cell phone numbers, and sometimes address histories. These businesses have no use for this information other than to deliver it to buyers for a minor charge.
Where you go from here depends on how badly you really desire to find out the person registered to that phone number. In the age of identity fraud many people won't just pull up the first site they find and hand over their private information. Finding the most trustworthy sites is just as crucial as when you buy clothing or purses over the internet.
Getting the information you want isn't very hard, once you find a legitimate lookup directory.
There are a growing number of competitive directories all offering different fees and delivering different combinations of information. When you only need to know the name behind a unidentified number calling your home or wish to identify exactly who your child is talking with in the middle of the night, you may not have the patience to evaluate different services.
The quickest solution may be to go with a name that many people have grown up with and access the web-based version of the yellow pages. There is a sense of safety when you use a well known popular name that has been trusted 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 landline 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 You won't get much beyond that, especially if you are researching a cell phone or a landline that is unpublished.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 are links on these pages that will deliver more detailed information, such as names and desired addresses, for a fee. These links lead to other webpages, so you have left the security of the yellow pages website so you should check the reputation of these services just as you would with any other. White pages itself is not going to give you much information beyond a general location; you will need to look elsewhere for more, especially if you wish to research a cell phone or unpublished number.
The best way to find reverse phone lookup directories for basic needs is to find a proven service with a nominal one time charge collected through a secure payment system. If you only need a one time number search then it is probably not worth the fee to commit to a unlimited service. Find one that provides a one time lookup for a low price, often just a buck or two.
Paying a huge charge for small amounts of information or being asked to secure information by delivering personal information through email or other non-secure forms are clear signals of a scam.