Searching for reverse phone lookup directories can get complicated. You may start out with a quick Google search, assuming it will automatically appear and you'll have the information you need with minimal work. Yet what actually appears is a series of paid directories which range from less than a buck for one number search to over fifteen dollars for a long term subscription.

Revising your search to indicate free reverse phone lookup delivers even more pay sites hiding behind claims that they are completely 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 and state, but if you want to see the important 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 Providers of this data go to great efforts and sometimes money to collect information such as unpublished residential numbers, cell phone numbers, and sometimes address histories. These businesses have no use for this information other than to deliver it to consumers for a small charge.

how you proceed from here depends on how badly you really want to find out the name connected to that phone number. In the age of identity fraud many people won't just pick the cheapest site and reveal their credit card information. Finding the most trustworthy directories is just as important as when you shop for tennis shoes or handbags online.

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

There are a growing number of competing directories all offering different charges and offering different combinations of data. When you simply need to know the person registered with a unidentified number calling your home or want to know exactly who your child is chatting with in the middle of the night, you probably don't have the patience to rate different websites.

The most effective answer may be to go with a brand that many of us have grown up with and access the web-based version of the yellow pages. There is a sense of security when you use a well known popular name that has been around for years. You can look up a phone number and get very basic information here without a fee, including whether the number is a cell phone or residential line and a map indicating the general location if it is a home or business. You won't find much more than that, especially if you are looking up a cell phone or a residential number that is unlisted.

Be careful at this point because there are links on these pages that offer additional information, including names and residential addresses, for a fee. These links lead to different sites, so you no longer necessarily have the security of the white pages website so you must ensure the reputation of these websites just as with any other. Yellow pages itself is not going to deliver much information besides a general location; you will have to search elsewhere for more, especially if you need to know about a cell phone or unpublished number.

The best way to locate reverse phone lookup websites for basic information is to find a trustworthy service with a nominal one time fee paid through a secure payment system. If you just want a one time lookup then it is probably not worth the money to sign up for a unlimited directory. Locate one that provides a one time search for a low fee, often just a dollar or two.

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