Whenever you receive a phone call whose number you don’t recognize, you can run a reverse phone number lookup to find out who it is. Mostly these phone number lookup tools are locked behind a paywall, but we have managed to find a couple of ways that are free. Read on and find out…

How to do a free reverse phone number lookup

1. Look up phone numbers through social media
2. Google the phone number
3. Bonus Tip: Use a reverse phone number lookup tool

Method 1: Look up phone numbers through social media

Social media is a good place to start tracing the identity of the unknown caller. If you go this route, simply note down the platforms that are most popular and familiar to you (such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Whatsapp, and Skype), then in each app, enter the phone number in the search field and press Enter. This may point you to the profiles of the phone number owner, so you can go on exploring their profiles and learn more about the person.

On the off chance that the person hasn’t had much online presence or that some platforms won’t allow you to search by phone number, you can move on to Method 2, below to track down the person.

Method 2: Google the phone number

Google is the largest search engine in the world. If the caller has left his/her trail online, it is possible that a Google search will lead you to it. To do so, simply type the phone number in the search bar, hit Enter, and then see what turns up.

To avoid being overwhelmed with a glut of information, here are two tips you can in refining your search:

• Wrap the number in quotation marks so that Google will search its database for results containing the exact number in the exact order (if any), eliminating all vague matches.
• If you managed to dig up some details of the phone caller in the social media approach, add it to your query to narrow it down. For example, if you search a number in Whatsapp and are presented with a specific name, such as Justin Timberlake, you can include it in your search (e.g. Justin Timberlake ” 888 888-8888″).

If you’re greeted with “It looks like there aren’t many great matches for your search“, it means that Google cannot find a result for your search. You could either try other combinations or switch to the bonus tip, below.

Bonus Tip: Use a reverse phone number lookup tool (Recommended)

Free methods don’t cost you a dime, but they can also be quite limited with what they can do, and it’s mostly time-consuming. If you have tried both methods above with no joy, you can try a reverse phone number lookup tool to unlock the information about the mysterious caller immediately.

After a lot of testing and comparing, we’ve found BeenVerified, Spokeo and PeopleFinders to be the best in the market. All searches are done with confidentiality, and the people you search won’t be notified.

1. BeenVerified – Best all-around phone lookup engine
2. Spokeo – Free basic information
3. PeopleFinders – Quick, no-hassle search

1. BeenVerified – Best all-around phone lookup engine

BeenVerified is our favorite phone lookup engine and it’s got a lot of reasons. As an all-in-one people search engine, it allows you to search by name, email address, phone number, and physical address. Then it unlocks for you all publicly available information pertaining to that person, including contact information, social media profiles, family background, court records, wealth data, marriage record information, and whatnot.

BeenVerified also updates its database regularly, so you can expect a fast, accurate, detailed result when you search for a person.

1. Go to BeenVerified phone lookup.
2. Type in the 10-digit phone number and click SEARCH.
   
3. Wait a bit as BeenVerified searches billions of records from its database and fetches you the matching owner of the number in search.
   
   
   

Additionally, as a friendly heads-up, BeenVerified gives you crystal-clear dos and don’ts on how you can and cannot use the data you obtain with the service.

2. Spokeo – Free basic information

Spokeo is a powerful phone lookup search engine founded by four Stanford University students. It started out by pulling data from various social media platforms. Over the years, the site has evolved into a very sophisticated one, collating both public and government sources of data.

1. Go to Spokeo phone lookup.
2. Enter the 10-digit phone number you wish to trace and click SEARCH NOW.
   
3. Spokeo will generate a report containing all information about the person(s) using the phone number. You can click on the corresponding links to learn about the person(s).
   
   Spokeo delivers basic information for free, but if you wish to uncover the full report, you’ll be required to pay a membership.
   

PeopleFinders – Quick, no-hassle search

PeopleFinders is another well-reputed phone number search tool that allows you to trace an unknown number and dig out in-depth information about the person. The lookup address won’t require you to sign up (which means no logs of your search), and the process is quick – all it takes is just a couple of minutes.

1. Go to PeopleFinders Reverse Phone Lookup page.
2. Enter the phone number of the subject and hit Search.
   
   Hint: You can also click Advanced Search to narrow down your search and get more accurate results.
3. Wait a while as PeopleFinders generates a report of all up-to-date information about the caller.
   

Are there any free reverse phone lookup services?

There could be, but just as any entity that provides products or services, they have to turn a profit in some way to keep the business going. As far as phone lookup engines are concerned, they need to pay money to access, aggregate, compile the bulks of data, and keep them up-to-date. Free phone lookup services may exist, but these websites could be crawled with ads, or the information may be missing, outdated, or associated with the wrong person, or there are other gimmicks involved. Simply put, you get what you pay for.

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