Searching for reverse phone lookup services can get confusing. You may begin with a quick Google search, hoping it will immediately appear and you'll have the information you desire with minimal effort. Yet what actually comes up are various paid directories which range from under a dollar for one lookup to over fifteen dollars for a service subscription.

Changing your search to include free reverse phone lookup delivers additional pay directories hiding behind claims to be free. They may allow you to enter the number without mention of a fee and award you with very useless information such as the city or state, but if you want to get the more substantial information like a name or address you will then be prompted to pay.

Absolutely free reverse phone lookup does not exist. Providers of this data go to great measures and even money to compile information like unlisted home phone numbers, cellular numbers, and sometimes address histories. They have no purpose to collect this information other than to pass it on to consumers for a small charge.

whether you move forward from here depends on how much you really want to identify the name registered to that phone number. In the age of identity fraud many people won't just pull up the first site they find and enter their personal information. Finding the most reputable directories is just as crucial as when you shop for tennis shoes or pocketbooks online.

Retrieving the information you need isn't very hard, once you find a proven source.

There are a growing number of competing websites all with different prices and offering different combinations of data. When you simply want to know the name behind a strange number calling your home or need to determine exactly who your child is talking with at all hours of the night, you may not have the desire to evaluate different services.

The quickest solution may be to go with a name that many people have grown up with and use the online version of the yellow pages. There is a sense of safety with a well known household name that has been trusted for years. You can search a phone number and get very basic information here without a fee, including if the number is a cell phone or home line and a map pinpointing the general location if it is a home or business. You won't find much beyond that, especially if you are researching a cell phone or a landline that is unpublished.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 from these pages that promise more detailed information, like names and specific addresses, for a fee. These are links to different sites, so you no longer necessarily have the familiarity of the white pages website so you need to check the legitimacy of these websites just like any other. White pages itself is not going to reveal much information beyond a general location; you will have to look elsewhere for anything else, 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 go to a reputable database with a small one time charge collected through a secure payment system. If you only need a one time number search then it is obviously not worth the charge to commit to a unlimited service. Find one that provides a single search for a small price, usually just a buck or two.

Forking over a huge fee for very limited information or being asked to secure information by delivering financial information through email or other non-secure forms are clear signs of a scam.