Looking for reverse phone lookup directories can become confusing. You may start out with a quick Google search, believing it will immediately pop up and you'll find the information you desire with very little work. Yet what actually appears is a long list of paid directories which range from less than a buck for one lookup to over fifteen dollars for a service subscription.
Editing your search to specify free reverse phone lookup delivers additional pay sites sneaking in claims to be free. They sometimes allow you to type in the number without mention of a fee and deliver very nominal information such as the city or state, but if you need to see the useful details like a name or address you will once again be asked to pay.
Totally free reverse phone lookup is not possible at this point. Providers of this data put out great efforts and sometimes money to compile information like unlisted home phone numbers, cellular numbers, and sometimes address histories. These businesses have no purpose to collect this information other than to pass it on to buyers for a nominal charge.
how you proceed from this point depends on how badly you really need to identify the name registered to that phone number. In the age of identity theft many people won't just pull up the cheapest site and enter their credit card information. Finding the most trustworthy services is just as important as when you shop for tennis shoes or purses online.
Finding the information you desire isn't very difficult, once you access a reputable service.
There are a growing number of competitive websites all with different fees and delivering different combinations of information. When you simply want to know the name registered with a strange phone number calling your home or wish to determine exactly who your child is talking with in the middle of the night, you may not have the time to evaluate different websites.
The quickest solution may be to go with a name that many people have grown up with and access the online version of the yellow pages. There is a sense of security when you use a common popular name that has been around for years. You can search a phone number and get the most basic information here without paying, including whether the number is a cell phone or residential line and a map indicating the general location of a home or business. You won't find much more than that, especially if you are searching a cell phone or a home phone number that is unlisted.
Be aware at this point because there will be links from these pages that will deliver more information, such as names and specific addresses, for a charge. These are links to other webpages, so you no longer necessarily have the security of the white pages website so you need to check the reputation of these databases just as with any other. White pages itself is not going to give you much information other than a general location; you will need to search elsewhere for more, especially if you need to research a cell phone or unpublished number.
The easiest way to find reverse phone lookup services for basic needs is to find a trustworthy directory with a small one time charge collected through a secure payment system. If you just want a one time number search then it is usually not worth the fee to commit to a more detailed service. Look for one that provides a single lookup for a minor price, often just a dollar or two.
Paying a large charge for small amounts of information or being asked to pay by sending personal information through email or other non-secure forms are flashing warnings of a scam.