Searching for reverse phone lookup services can become confusing. You may begin with a simple internet search, believing it will immediately appear and you'll have the information you need with minimal work. Yet what actually appears are various paid directories which range from less than a buck for one number search to over 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 more substantial details like a name or address you will once again be asked to pay.
Absolutely free reverse phone lookup does not exist. Providers of this data go to great efforts and even money to assemble information like unlisted residential numbers, cell phone numbers, and even address histories. These businesses have no use for this information other than to deliver it to consumers for a small charge.
whether you move forward from here depends on how badly you really want to find out the person behind that phone number. In the age of identity fraud most people won't just pick the cheapest site and reveal their personal information. Finding the most trustworthy directories is just as crucial as when you shop for tennis shoes or handbags over the internet.
Retrieving the information you desire isn't very difficult, once you find a reputable source.
There are a growing number of competitive websites all offering different charges and offering different combinations of information. When you simply want to know the person registered with a particular phone number calling your home or want to know exactly who your child is chatting with at all hours of the night, you probably don't have the time to evaluate different websites.
The most effective solution may be to go with a brand that many people have grown up with and use the web-based version of the white pages. There is a sense of legitimacy when you use a well known popular name that has been trusted for years. You can search a phone number and get very basic information here without a fee, including whether 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 more than that, especially if you are researching a cell phone or a landline that is unlisted.
Be alert at this point because there will be links from these pages that will deliver more detailed information, including names and desired addresses, for a fee. These links lead to other webpages, so you no longer necessarily have the security of the yellow pages website so you need to check the legitimacy of these databases just like any other. White pages itself is not going to give you 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 unlisted number.
The best way to find reverse phone lookup directories for basic information is to find a proven directory with a reasonable one time fee collected with a secure payment system. If you just want a one time lookup then it is usually not worth the fee to commit to a more detailed service. Look for one that provides a single search for a low charge, often just a buck or two.
Paying a high fee for very limited information or being asked to pay by delivering personal information through email or other non-secure methods are obvious warnings of a scam.