Looking for reverse phone lookup services can get confusing. You may start out with a simple internet search, assuming it will automatically appear and you'll find the information you desire with very little effort. Yet what actually comes up is a long list of paid directories which range from under a dollar for one number search to over fifteen dollars for a long term subscription.

Changing your search to indicate free reverse phone lookup reveals even more pay sites sneaking in claims that they are completely free. They may allow you to enter the number for free and deliver very nominal information such as the city or state, but if you need to obtain the more substantial details like a name or address you will then be prompted to hand over a fee.

Totally free reverse phone lookup is not possible at this point. Providers of this data go to great efforts and even money to compile information including unpublished landline numbers, cell phone numbers, and sometimes address histories. These businesses have no purpose to collect this information other than to pass it on to consumers for a nominal fee.

Where you go from here depends on how badly you really want to reveal the name connected to that phone number. In the age of identity fraud many people won't just pull up the cheapest site and reveal their personal information. Finding the most trustworthy sites is just as necessary as when you buy tennis shoes or handbags over the internet.

Retrieving the information you need isn't very hard, once you locate a reputable source.

There are a growing number of competing websites all with different charges and delivering different combinations of information. When you only need to determine the name connected to a particular phone number calling your home or need to identify exactly who your child is chatting with at all hours of the night, you may not have the time to compare different directories.

The easiest answer may be to go with a name that many people have grown up with and use the web-based version of the yellow pages. There is a sense of legitimacy when you use a well known household name that has been used for years. You can look up a phone number and get the most basic information here without paying, including whether the number is a cell phone or home line and a map indicating the general location of a home or business. You won't receive much more than that, especially if you are looking up a cell phone or a home phone number that is unpublished.

Be careful at this point because there are links on these pages that will deliver more detailed information, including registered names and desired addresses, for a charge. These links go to other webpages, so you no longer necessarily have the familiarity of the white pages website so you should check the security of these databases just like any other. Yellow pages itself is not going to deliver much information beyond a general location; you will need to search elsewhere for more, especially if you want to know about a cell phone or unlisted number.

The most effective way to locate reverse phone lookup directories for basic information is to go to a trustworthy database with a nominal one time fee collected with a secure payment system. If you just want a one time lookup then it is obviously not worth the fee to sign up for a more detailed directory. Find one that provides a single search for a low fee, often just a buck or two.

Shelling out a huge charge for small amounts of information or being asked to pay by delivering card numbers through email or other non-secure forms are clear warnings of a scam.