In this post, we’ll explore several methods to identify unknown cell phone or landline numbers using various online resources and techniques.

1. TrueCaller

If you frequently receive calls or texts from unknown numbers, like this frustrated user who sought help in identifying callers after being overwhelmed with calls from agents, telemarketers, and salesmen¹, you can try using the caller ID and call-blocking app Truecaller. 

It’s a free reverse phone lookup tool with more than 368 million users. This vast network actively suggests names for incoming numbers, which increase your chances to identify spam, scam, or business calls. 

Using this tool is very easy – just go to the TrueCaller‘s official website or download the app, and then sign in using your Facebook or Google account. Next, type in the phone number you’d like to search for and you’d be able to find out information associated with the number. For example, if a number is frequently reported as a Medicare provider, the app displays this information when users query that number’s identity.  

Truecaller identifies number details using their registered profiles. If the number is not saved in any of its users’ phones, then you’d be greeted with “Name is not yet available for this number”. In this case, you might want to use a dedicated people search tool like BeenVerified. 

2. BeenVerified

BeenVerified is a people search engine designed specifically to search for people-related information. This tool gathers information associated with individuals from a wide range of public records databases, increasing your chances of bringing up a wealth of information on the person you’re searching for.

Here’s how to search for a phone number with BeenVerified’s reverse phone lookup:

1. Go to the BeenVerified Phone Lookup page.

2. Type in the phone number and click Search Now. Note that BeenVerified is a paid service and the search report is limited to paid accounts only. A monthly BeenVerified membership costs $29.99 and allows you to run 100 reports per month.

3.  BeenVerified will search through billions of records and present you with a series of potential owners. You can then click Search person to access a detailed report on the potential owner. 

4. The search report may contain data such as the individual’s name, aliases, birth date, residential address, email, social media accounts, family members, possible photographs, criminal history, among other details.

This can be very useful when you’re searching for more than just the name of a phone number’s owner. According to one CityData user, they successfully got contact details for an old college friend by using a few reverse phone lookup sites to search the person’s old cell number².

Here is an example of a BeenVerified report:

3. Intelius

Intelius is another reliable people search service that allows you to search for information associated with a particular phone number. Here is how to use the tool: 

1. Go to the Intelius Reverse Phone Lookup page.

2. Enter the number into the search box below and click Search Now. Intelius will then work its magic and search through available public records and online resources to pull a list of potential owners that matches your search information. 

3. After purchasing an Intelius membership, you can unlock the search report and learn more about the person you’re looking for. The Reverse Phone Lookup membership plan costs $34.95 per month and includes unlimited monthly phone, person and address searches.

4. Click OPEN REPORT to learn more about that owner. 

The search report may include information like the person’s name, age, known associates, online social profiles, address history, employment history, criminal and traffic records and more. Here is an Intelius sample report:

4. WhitePages

WhitePages is arguably the most reputable reverse phone lookup service in the US. Its reverse phone lookup searches over 260 million phone numbers to help you find out who is behind the number. WhitePages lets you search the phone number for free. However, with a free account, you’d only be able to view limited data such as the phone service provider details. The person’s name, address history, and other information will only be available on a paid report.

If you’re after the detailed report, you’d need to upgrade to a premium account. Simply input the phone number into the search bar to see if WhitePages can find anything about this number. 

5. Social media

Social media platforms can also be useful when you’re trying to find out someone’s information. You can save the number to your contact list and share it with your social media networks, such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. The platforms can recommend profiles to follow based on your updated contacts.

If the person you’re looking for has an account on the platform, you have a chance of locating it. And from there, you can gather more details about them.

6. Hire Private Investigator

If you’re serious about learning as much as possible about someone, a private investigator might be worth considering. You can find a private investigator through your state’s professional private investigator association or conduct a concise online search. Or if you know anyone who has previously enlisted the services of a private investigator, just ask them for recommendations.

Another option is to pay for a Social Catfish Specialty Service. The people search experts at Social Catfish will do all the hard work for you, using the same tools that the FBI uses. 

Conclusion

Identifying unknown phone numbers has become easier with the help of various online tools and techniques. Hopefully, these 6 methods have been helpful in your search for information about the person behind a phone number.

FAQs

1. Oklahoma. (2021, Apr 16), Is there a way to check who called? [Online forum post]. lowyat.net. https://forum.lowyat.net/topic/5133088/  ↩︎
2. Kreon. (2012, May 1). A phone number search was very helpful for me in search of the contact details of my friend that I used to know in college. [Comment on the online forum post How can I do a reverse phone look up without being charged…..I want to do it for free (application, browser)]. CityData. https://www.city-data.com/forum/cell-phones-smartphones/1559915-how-can-i-do-reverse-phone.html ↩︎
3. The Doctor11. (2014, Jul 2). Does anyone know of a good reverse phone number look up? [Online forum post]. MacRumors. https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/does-anyone-know-of-a-good-reverse-phone-number-look-up.1750621/ ↩︎