Best Ways To Look Up Phone Numbers

In this article, we take a look at the best ways to look up a phone number (both free and paid).

The easiest way to look up a phone number is by using an ordinary search engine – Google is the best for this.

Simply search for the number, and if it appears on any website, blog, social media post, or anything else, it will show up. For spam calls, you’ll no doubt quickly discover that you’re not the first person to search for the number, and there are various websites where people report nuisance calls.

A quick tip: if other phone numbers are showing up, add quotation marks so Google only shows the results with the exact phone number you’re looking for. Example: “+123456789”.

The only problem with using a search engine is that results are limited, and if the phone number isn’t out there in public, there’s no way of finding it.

We all know that social media and privacy don’t always go hand in hand. From LinkedIn to Instagram and TikTok, people are open to sharing more information than they should online.

Facebook is the best way to check the owner of a phone number. Unless users change the default privacy settings, pretty much everything on their profile is public.

So, if that user (or business) has added their phone number to their profile it’s easy to find – you can just enter the number in the Facebook search bar to find them.

However, you have to rely on a person putting their number on their profile, keeping it up to date, and having their privacy settings open enough for you to find it. If someone is making harassing phone calls, they’re not likely to publicly display their phone number.

From the 90s landline phones that would show you the number of the person calling to modern VoIP systems, caller ID has been around for many years.

Modern smartphones also search online for the number that’s calling to inform you of who it belongs to. If it’s a business easily found on Google, your phone will show the business’s name. If it’s a scam call, then it will give you a warning. Fortunately, there are also caller ID mobile apps with both free and paid solutions available. Hiya, Truecaller, and CallApp are three of the most popular ones.

Remember the yellow and white pages? They’re still around! They’ve gone online like everything else, and you can search for landline or business numbers in these online directories. In addition to the Yellow Pages, you can also try Foursquare to find information about a business.

This method is perfect to quickly verify the identity of someone calling from a landline and get a rough idea of where they live.

Enough people look up phone numbers that an entire industry has been made from of it. Reverse lookup services aim to provide even more detailed information about a phone number.

What makes these services worthwhile is that they can give you far more information than any of the other methods discussed so far. For example, reverse lookup services will not only be able to tell you if the number is a personal or business number, but you’ll also know the caller’s full name, address, and social media.

The downside is that reverse lookup services are rarely free. You can expect to pay a fee of about $5 for a one-time report, although some services offer monthly subscriptions.

Still, if you are prepared to spend money on information, then it might be worth looking at a service that can give you more bang for your buck.

For the most comprehensive reverse phone lookup, it’s worth using a background check service. Most providers have their own reverse phone lookup tool included. However, since they use the same data as they use for more in-depth checks, you’re likely to get more thorough results.

By using a background check service, you can also expect to see more than just the caller’s name and address. You may also find out their known relatives, aliases, criminal history, and dating profiles. The service might even give you pictures of the caller.

Of course, background check services are useful for more than just reverse phone lookups. They’re ideal safety measures for dating, as well as for landlords when choosing a new tenant or employers making sure they hire the right person for the job.

Whether you’re trying to identify a missed call, avoid a scammer, or reconnect with someone, there’s no shortage of tools to help you check who the owner of a phone number is.

From simple Google searches to powerful background check services, each method has its strengths depending on how much information you need and how much effort (or budget) you’re willing to invest.

So, the next time your phone rings from an unfamiliar number, don’t just ignore it – use the tools at your fingertips to find out exactly who’s calling.