Consumer Advice > General AdviceMay 17, 2009

Free Reverse Phone Lookup

I have been getting a lot of calls from out of state numbers that I don't recognize. I tried looking them up in the "reverse directory", but they want me to pay for the information. Does anyone know of any free look-ups?

By ew954 from Tallahassee FL

Answers

Read answers for this post below.

By
05/26/2009

If you type the whole ten digit number into Google like this (123)456-7890 it will tell you in most cases who it is. Some numbers cannot be traced this way, but it's worth a try.

By
05/24/2009

Zabasearch.com is useful in a lot of the cases I get. Scary thing, though, if you know what you are doing, they can also list your month and year of birth, and everyone that lives on your registered street. I did that with my mother's name and phone number. Then told her to demand that they remove her info. Just think, some weirdo can put in your name and number, get your home address, phone number, and the info for your neighbors. Add map quest.*shivers*. I also get phone calls that are listed 'private' , 'unknown' or 'out of area'. I am also on the DNC list, but that seems to be of little good.

Also realize that if you are on a mobile phone, there is a good probability that your number is 'recycled'. It was once someone else's. We had to get my husband's first number changed because it was once for a bail/bonds service. We were constantly getting calls from our local jail. I also got calls on my number from someone who kept calling at all hours of the night. Pure frustration. But, back to free look ups. Yes, that is deceptive. They'll say 'we have a match and for XX amount of money, we'll let you see!' This idea may be low tech, but what about calling directory service in the area in question? Who knows? I hope any of what I have said helps.

By
05/23/2009

If all you want is a name, and possibly an address, Whitepages.com will give it to you for free.

By
05/20/2009

Thanks to all for recommending so many useful links. I also like to recommend one and that is http://aafter.com/
It provides functional links of reliable fast and accurate reverse phone number look up service providers. Some of them provide free services while some others paid services. I like the website, since it also provides links for reverse address look up. Why don't you give it a scoop?

Regards, Sharon Hill

By
05/18/2009

I usually use the whitepages one:
http://www.whitepages.com/reverse-lookup
Chances are it is a telemarketer/scammer.

You can also put the full phone number into a google search and see what comes up.
example:http://www.google.com/search?q=323-429-7512

There are now a ton of websites that deal with "unknown callers" for people to find out info on that number from sites like:

800notes.com
whocalled.us
callferrett.com
etc.

If you enter the full phone number in google they will come up usually.
The last number I looked up it came up with over 30 of those sites. Busy little scammers.

I always look up these calls and 100% of the calls we received like these are telemarketers or scammers. They don't follow the rules for the Do Not Call list. If you ask them to put you on THEIR do not call list they either hang up on you or say they will but then call again and again.

Also be advised that the info shown (name & phone #) can be falsified by people in the know (scammers) so you cant always trust what is on there.
The govt recently did a crack down on robocalls so maybe it will help in the future. Fingers crossed. In the meantime having a Voice Mail system or answering machine helps in screening out the calls.

http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&a ... m=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wn

Also be sure not to give out personal info of any kind to calls that you did not initiate yourself & know the company...even on polls or surveys.

By
05/18/2009

Another site that is free is whocalled.us

As long as there are other people that have received calls from the number and registered them, you will get a general idea who has called.

By
05/18/2009

Anywho.com is a free site that gives you reverse phone numbers and you can get addresses for those numbers you already have.

By
05/18/2009

I go to MSN, click on white pages, then on reverse lookup. Type in the telephone number and if unlisted, it will show the name who has that number. Hope this helps.

By
05/18/2009

I go to google.com and search the addresses that come up. I have a unlisted phone and am on the do do call list but still get the calls. One way these folks get the number is from people you do business with such as the cable company and your bank and if you bought a car the dealer will sell your phone number. Circuit city when they were in business would always ask for you to put your phone number on the check if you paid by check. They would not sell you an item unless they had your phone number. Then they would sell the number to a teller marketer. I never bought anything from Circuit City when I found out about this. I also never give out my phone number. When asked I say it is unlisted. When I do get teller marketer calls I report them to the do not call registry.

By
05/17/2009

Trundgirl is right, I just experimented with numbers I know and both Google and Yahoo search told me who the numbers belong to. However, it didn't work for cell phones.

By
05/17/2009

Hubby said to try to just plug the number into a google search or use www.thedirectory.org Hope that helps some! I deal with this stuff too.

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