Looking for reverse phone lookup directories can get complicated. You may begin with a quick Google search, believing it will automatically pop up and you'll have the information you desire with very little effort. Yet what actually appears are various paid websites which range from under a dollar for one lookup to upwards of fifteen dollars for a service subscription.
Revising your search to indicate free reverse phone lookup brings even more pay services hiding behind claims that they are completely free. They may allow you to type in the number for free and give very basic information such as the city and state, but if you want to get the more substantial details like a name or address you will then be requested to hand over a fee.
Absolutely free reverse phone lookup is not possible at this point. Providers of this data put out great measures and sometimes money to collect information such as unpublished landline numbers, cell phone numbers, and even address histories. These businesses have no purpose to collect this information other than to pass it on to consumers for a minor fee.
Where you go from here depends on how badly you really need to reveal the person connected to that phone number. In the age of identity theft many people won't just access the cheapest site and enter their credit card information. Finding the most trustworthy directories is just as necessary as when you shop for tennis shoes or purses through the web.
Finding the information you need isn't very hard, once you locate a proven lookup directory.
There are a growing number of competing services all offering different fees and offering different combinations of information. When you simply need to determine the name behind a strange number calling your home or wish to identify exactly who your child is chatting with at all hours of the night, you may not have the time to rate different services.
The quickest solution may be to go with a brand that many of us have grown up with and use the web-based version of the yellow pages. There is a sense of security when you use a common household name that has been used for years. You can look up a phone number and get very basic information here for free, including if the number is a cell phone or home line and a map indicating the general location if it is a home or business. You won't find much beyond that, especially if you are researching a cell phone or a residential number that is unpublished.
Be aware at this point because there are links from these pages that promise more information, like names and desired addresses, for a charge. These links lead to other webpages, so you have left the security of the white pages website so you should verify the reputation of these databases just as with any other. Yellow pages itself is not going to give you much information other than a general location; you will have to search elsewhere for more, especially if you need to know about a cell phone or unlisted number.
The most effective way to find reverse phone lookup directories for basic needs is to find 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 probably not worth the charge to sign up for a long term directory. Find one that delivers a single lookup for a low price, often just a buck or two.
Paying a high fee for very limited information or being asked to pay by sending personal information through email or other non-secure methods are obvious signals of a scam.