There are several different methods you can use if you decide “I need to know who a phone number belongs too”. The first is to simply call back the number and see who picks up. If you don’t want to be traced then you could call from a mobile phone or hide your caller ID. There are other, more sophisticated methods though that can work just as well. Here are two of the most common in more detail.
Google has a “PhoneBook” function which is extremely useful for looking up phone numbers and works for both mobiles and landlines. All you need to do is visit Google.com and type in “phonebook:number”. This will bring up any results that Google has in its database that include the number.
The problem with the Google phone book method is that it only returns numbers that are found somewhere on public sections of websites. If the person trying to call you has never disclosed their phone number online then it’s unlikely that Google will be able to find it. This is the case for both mobile phone numbers and landlines. For this reason the method is more effective when used for business numbers but varies greatly when looking at home numbers.
The other method to match a phone number to a person is to use a free or paid reverse phone lookup website on the internet. One of the major advantages of these websites is that they have access to the national database of phone numbers making it easy to find out who owns a particular number. The downside is that these websites don’t have access to mobile or unlisted numbers. That means that if the owner of a number has removed his or her phone from the national directory then the website won’t be able to find anything.
Another advantage of a lookup service is that in some cases you can gain access to additional information including the person’s address and date of birth.
Choosing a reverse phone lookup site isn’t always easy because there are so many. It’s vital that you choose a company that uses an up-to-date database – there is no point finding out who owned a particular number several years ago. The more recent the database the more likely you are to find the right owner. You should also avoid paid services unless they can provide you with a high level of service. Some paid websites don’t provide anything extra compared to the free ones.