Ever received unknown phone number calls that are really bothering? This post shows you how to look up a hidden phone number and its owner behind step by step.

1. Dial a Star Code to Unlock the Number

If the caller-ID is hidden, the first thing you need to do is to dial *69 or *57. The code *69 triggered an automated feedback for the phone number of the last incoming caller. While *57 is to initiate a call trace for the last received harassing call.

If the unknown phone number you’re looking up isn’t the one that just called you, you may dial it back through the record in your directory first and then hang up quickly. After this move, try the star codes listed above to find the hidden number.

2. Reverse Look up the Phone Number

Now you have the number, but know nothing yet about the caller. So it’s time to use a reverse phone number lookup tool to search the available public records and digital footprints of the owner. All you need to do is to type in the phone number you just acquired.

BeenVerified

BeenVerified is a strong reverse phone number search tool that you may consider as your first choice. It can access millions of public records and over 50 social media networks, allowing you to reveal not just the phone number owner’s name, address, work and business info, but also possibly their photos, financial and crime records, and social profiles.

1) Visit the BeenVerified reverse phone lookup page.

2) Enter the unknown phone number and click SEARCH.

3) Wait for BeenVerified to search its database. Then you may unlock a detailed report over the unknown phone number’s owner. Use Overview to see all the details about them.

Intelius

Intelius is another famous people search service you can try. It has millions of public record sources and 50+ social media sources to help search for the owner behind an unknown phone number. You may find their name, address history, work history, and possible photos and social media profiles.

1) Go to Intelius.

2) Enter the unknown phone number and click SEARCH.

3) Wait for Intelius to generate the report. Then you might see some basic info about the phone number, like its carrier, line type and last location. For more details, purchase a membership plan that best fits your needs.

4) Open the report on the phone number and you can browse the details about the possible owner of it.

The above image is from a sample Intelius report. Actual Intelius reports may contain more or less information.

5) Click open the potential owner’s personal report and you may navigate to whichever aspect of them you want to check.

The above image is from a sample Intelius report. Actual Intelius reports may contain more or less information.

3. Install an App Showing Caller ID

If you don’t want to be bothered by unknown numbers anymore, you may consider installing Truecaller on your mobile phone. It’s an app with the built-in feature showing the caller ID right on the call. And if it’s from a scammer, the Truecaller system might have marked it and can even block the call directly for you.

4. Alternative Methods

Option 1 – Search the phone number on Google

Google is a free versatile search engine that many people use daily. But how to use it correctly for searching an unknown phone number?

1) Open Google Search, type the unknown phone number in the search box and press Enter on your keyboard.

2) Look for information like the area code region, addresses, organization, social media accounts and photos in the result list.

3) Pay attention to info like the alert that it might be a scam call.

Option 2 – Check a CNAM Directory

A CNAM (Caller Name) directory documents phone numbers with the registered names attached to them. And there’re tons of free ones you may find online. For example, FreeCallerLookup.com is a CNAM directory with a clean page and neat features.

Type in the unknown phone number that’s bothering you and you might find a name behind it if the number is in the database. But that’s it, all you get is a pure name. You still need to do the rest of the search yourself to draw out other information about the person.

Option 3 – Search on big social media platforms

Most social media sites need your phone number as registration info and sign-in credential for your account. And they allow you to search and add associates via their phone numbers. Nowadays, almost no one could escape from an online social life. So you may try your luck directly on big social media platforms to see if you could find profiles related to the unknown phone number.

Firstly, you may search that number directly in the search bar of the social apps like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and so on. See if any related post or profile appears.

Or you can also try the Sync Contacts feature that most of these popular platforms have. It’s a way to trace the account associated with a certain phone number directly and accurately. Take Instagram for an example:

1) Save the unknown phone number in your mobile directory.

2) Open Instagram and click your profile at the bottom right.

3) Tap on the three lines icon at the top right, and click Settings – Account – Contacts syncing.

4) Switch on the button.

5) Click “OK” to give Instagram permission to access the contact information on your device. Now in Discover People you can try to find if a strange username appears, it might be the owner of the unknown phone number you’re checking.

That’s all the 3 steps and alternative methods you could take to search the unknown phone number. Among them the most efficient way is to use reverse phone number lookup tools like BeenVerified or Intelius. Hope you find this post helpful!

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