Looking for reverse phone lookup services can become confusing. You may begin with a simple Google search, assuming it will automatically pop up and you'll have the information you desire with minimal work. Yet what actually appears is a long list of paid websites which vary from under a dollar for one lookup to over fifteen dollars for a long term subscription.
Revising your search to include free reverse phone lookup delivers even more pay services hiding behind claims to be free. They may allow you to type in the number without mention of a fee and give very useless information such as the city and state, but in order to get the important details like a name or address you will once again be prompted to pay.
Absolutely free reverse phone lookup is not possible at this point. Providers of this data go to great measures and even money to collect information including unlisted residential numbers, cell phone numbers, and sometimes address histories. These businesses have no use for this information other than to deliver it to buyers for a nominal charge.
Where you go from here depends on how much you really need to find out the person registered to that phone number. In the age of identity fraud most people won't just pick the first site they find and hand over their private information. Finding the most reputable directories is just as crucial as when you shop for clothing or handbags through the web.
Finding the information you need isn't very hard, once you locate a proven source.
There are many competitive websites all with different charges and delivering different combinations of information. When you simply need to determine the person behind a strange number calling your home or need to determine exactly who your teenager is talking with at all hours of the night, you may not have the time to compare different websites.
The quickest answer may be to go with a brand that many of us have grown up with and use the web-based version of the white pages. There is a sense of security with a well known household name that has been used for years. You can search a phone number and get very basic information here free of charge, including if the number is a cell phone or residential line and a map indicating the general location of a home or business. You won't get much more than that, especially if you are searching a cell phone or a residential number that is unpublished.
Be careful at this point because there will be links on these pages that will deliver more detailed information, like registered names and residential addresses, for a fee. These are links to different webpages, so you no longer necessarily have the security of the yellow pages website so you must check the reputation of these services just as you would with 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 want to research a cell phone or unlisted number.
The best way to access reverse phone lookup directories for basic information 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 lookup then it is obviously not worth the money to commit to a unlimited directory. Find one that delivers a one time search for a small price, often just a dollar or two.
Paying a huge fee for small amounts of information or being asked to pay by sending financial information by email or other non-secure forms are clear signs of a scam.