Right now you’re probably trying to figure out who’s been calling you. Your anxiety is also no doubt through the roof, because there is nothing worse than an unknown caller who won’t leave you alone. Is it a friend pulling a practical joke? is someone stalking you? These same thoughts have gone through my mind as well when this has happened and it’s far from funny.

A reverse lookup is an affordable action step that you can take. If you’ve been getting these calls from a stranger for a while now, there’s really no need to hire a private investigator or take any other drastic steps. With a reverse lookup, you can enter in a number, do a quick scan through the reverse directory and find a possible match. It’s great because you can start a reverse cell lookup for free, and if the number is located, a small fee can be paid that will allow you to get the name and other details about the caller that are provided by the reverse lookup.

I did a search just recently using a reverse phone lookup and within seconds had the number confirmed and the location (state and city).

If you need more information from a reverse lookup, you can pay a small fee to gather more available information. This data will vary, but typically you can count on a name, possible household members and sometimes many other revealing tid-bits.

Once you have accumulated the information that you need from the reverse phone lookup, you have knowledge of the unknown caller. What you do with it is important, however. For instance, you should never use a reverse lookup illegally to spam the residence or to stalk a person. If you are concerned that using a reverse cellular lookup will reveal your identity – don’t be. Your use of such a service is completely confidential and no one is alerted that you have investigated their number.

In the full report if a number is found with the reverse lookup, you can get the name of a person, their current street address, the line type (landline or mobile phone), phone carrier, location of resident with corresponding map and perhaps even previous redisential addresses of the person in question.

But I would recommend that if you think you will be using a reverse lookup often that you get the annual unlimited plan. This will allow you to pay a one time fee (which is cheap) to do as many searches as you want for a full year. You may even get discounts for other types of reports, such as criminal records. When you get the full membership you can access millions of public records using the reverse lookup.

One thing that you should know before using a reverse phone lookup is that it only covers the U.S. By law, many countries do not allow reverse directories. But you don’t have to worry about being limited to just landlines. Cell phone numbers can be traced using a reverse  lookup as well.

Customer satisfaction is also a plus. In the event that you are having trouble locating the person who keeps calling you, get a hold of the support department with the reverse lookup and they should be able to help you.

But A Reverse Lookup Can Be Used For Many Practical Reasons

• Say that you have a phone number that you quickly scribbled down on a note pad. You didn’t label who it belonged to, but with a phone number directory you might be able to get affirmation of who it is. Sometimes a reverse lookup can also be used to locate old friends, neighbors or colleagues when time has set you apart.

• Need to check a strange number on your billing statement? This is another time that a reverse lookup can very handy.

• Suspect that your partner is having an affair? well this is a touchy subject, but a reverse directory can help you catch a cheater, that way you can bring it to their attention and take the next steps to renewing your relationship with them.

• You can also use the information that you obtain from a reverse lookup to locate old friends or buddies if you have lost contact over the years.

• A reverse cell lookup also can provide the practicality of verifying an address, and again – as long as you don’t use the data for ill intent purposes, you are free to do a search at any time.

Is A Reverse Phone Lookup Ever Free?

The short answer is no. A revers lookup must purchase the data from phone carriers and sign strict legal contracts forbidding them from freely giving it away. This is why you must pay to access this information so that it is not easily distributed. Federal law permits the purchase of such information and redistribution of it, but not completely for free. So a reverse lookup must comply as well.

At this point you might be wondering about your own privacy. You may also opt out of the directory for free if you should find your own number. But keep in mind that source databases retain records regarding your phone number that go beyond a reverse phone lookup, and cannot be removed.

As a helpful note, if you simply want the general area of where an area code is based out of, without using a reverse phone lookup, check out our U.S. area codes page in the top menu. Otherwise, if you need real peace of mind, your best bet might be to use a reverse lookup.