Looking for reverse phone lookup directories can become confusing. You may begin with a simple Google search, believing it will immediately pop up and you'll find the information you require with minimal work. Yet what actually appears is a series of paid websites which vary from under a dollar for one lookup to upwards of fifteen dollars for a long term subscription.

Editing your search to indicate free reverse phone lookup delivers even more pay sites advertising claims that they are completely free. They may allow you to type in the number free of charge and deliver very nominal information such as the city or state, but in order to get the useful information such as a name or address you will once again be prompted to pay.

Completely free reverse phone lookup does not exist. Providers of this information put out great measures and even money to collect information including unlisted landline numbers, cellular numbers, and sometimes address histories. They have no purpose to collect this information other than to pass it on to you for a small charge.

how you proceed from this point depends on how much you really desire to find out the person connected to that phone number. In the age of identity theft many people won't just access the first site they find and enter their credit card information. Finding the most trustworthy directories is just as necessary as when you purchase clothing or handbags through the web.

Finding the information you need isn't very hard, once you locate a legitimate lookup directory.

There are a growing number of competing directories all with different fees and offering different combinations of data. When you simply want to determine the name behind a unidentified number calling your home or wish to determine exactly who your teenager is talking with at all hours of the night, you may not have the desire to evaluate different directories.

The quickest solution may be to go with a brand that many of us have grown up with and access the online version of the white pages. There is a sense of safety with a common household name that has been used for years. You can search a phone number and get the most basic information here free of charge, including whether the number is a cell phone or home line and a map pinpointing 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 You won't get much beyond that, especially if you are researching a cell phone or a residential number that is unpublished.

Be aware at this point because there are links on these pages that offer additional information, including names and residential addresses, for a charge. These links go to other sites, so you have left the familiarity of the yellow pages website so you need to ensure the security of these databases just as you would with any other. Yellow pages itself is not going to deliver much information beyond a general location; you will have to look elsewhere for more, especially if you need to know about a cell phone or unpublished number.

The most effective way to find reverse phone lookup services for basic information is to go to a trustworthy database with a small one time fee paid with a secure payment system. If you only need a one time lookup then it is obviously not worth the fee to commit to a unlimited service. Locate one that delivers a single lookup for a minor charge, often just a buck or two.

Forking over a high charge for very limited information or being asked to pay by delivering personal information through email or other non-secure forms are flashing signals of a scam.