Searching for reverse phone lookup directories can get confusing. You may start out with a simple Google search, believing it will immediately appear and you'll have the information you need with very little effort. Yet what actually comes up are various paid services which vary from less than a buck for one number search to upwards of fifteen dollars for a service subscription.

Editing your search to indicate free reverse phone lookup reveals additional pay directories sneaking in claims that they are completely free. They may allow you to type in the number for free and award you with very useless information such as the city and state, but if you want to get the useful information such as a name or address you will then be asked to hand over a fee.

Totally free reverse phone lookup does not exist. Providers of this data put out great efforts and even money to compile information including unlisted residential numbers, cell phone numbers, and even address histories. They have no use for this information other than to make it available to you for a minor fee.

whether you move forward from here depends on how much you really need to find out the name connected to that phone number. In the age of identity theft most people won't just access the cheapest site and reveal their credit card information. Finding the most trustworthy services is just as crucial as when you shop for clothing or handbags over the internet.

Getting the information you desire isn't very difficult, once you find a proven service.

There are a growing number of competing directories all with different charges and delivering different combinations of data. When you simply want to determine the name behind a strange phone number calling your home or want to identify exactly who your teenager is chatting with in the middle of the night, you may not have the patience to rate different websites.

The most effective solution may be to go with a name that many of us have grown up with and access the web-based version of the yellow pages. There is a sense of legitimacy with a well known household name that has been trusted for years. You can search a phone number and get the most basic information here without paying, including if the number is a cell phone or home line and a map pinpointing the general location of a home or business. You won't receive much more than that, especially if you are searching a cell phone or a landline that is unlisted.

Be careful at this point because there will be links from these pages that offer more information, like names and residential addresses, for a charge. These links go to other sites, so you have left the security of the white pages website so you should check the security of these websites just like any other. Yellow pages itself is not going to deliver much information besides a general location; you will need to search elsewhere for anything else, especially if you wish to research a cell phone or unpublished number.

The most effective way to find reverse phone lookup directories for basic information is to go to a proven database with a nominal one time charge collected with a secure payment system. If you just want a one time number search then it is probably not worth the money to sign up for a long term service. Find one that delivers a one time lookup for a low fee, often just a buck or two.

Paying a huge fee for small amounts of information or being asked to secure information by delivering card numbers by email or other non-secure methods are flashing signs of a scam.