A reverse phone lookup is simply a way of telling search engines to find the name of someone from a telephone number. This process is reliable when the information it can deduce from a phone number is from an up-to-date database.
This process enables you to identify who is calling you even when you don’t have their mobile number saved in your phone contact. You can uncover details about an unknown caller, such as their name, state of the area code, social media profiles, the original company that provisioned the phone number, and other information. Sometimes you can even find out when the phone number first came into use.
Such information is useful when you are used to getting unknown calls and want to identify who is behind the calls. Several sites offer reverse phone lookup services. However, look around for one that can actually work – not every one of them is accurate. USPhoneLookup is one of the few most trusted services you can rely on for legitimate phone lookup services.
Do Reverse Phone Lookups Actually Work?
Despite the popularity, a reverse phone lookup can be challenging because it is tough to determine all the details necessary to trace a number. These services can sometimes present inaccurate results. However, reverse phone lookup sites such as USphoneLookup are able to find a match for 60-80% of phone numbers they usually check via their platform. The reason is that these websites can access records beyond what is publicly available online.
And also, what usually determines the success of a reverse phone lookup process is how long someone has had a phone number and whether they are prepaid or postpaid phones. The match rates for prepaid phones are low compared to postpaid ones. That is because prepaid phones are used almost completely anonymously. The longer an individual has had a mobile number, the higher the chance that there will be details that match their number.
A reverse phone lookup site of higher quality will give you a more detailed final report. It will include details on properties, emails, infractions, and social media profiles.
Where Does the Information Come From in a Reverse Lookup?
Most reverse lookup sites, whether unpaid or paid, go through public resources such as census records, white and yellow pages, search engine indexes, social media databases, and criminal records to find information associated with a mobile number.
High-quality services employ more extensive sources such as the dark web and private records of business partners. They use high-end software to manage the data.
Where the information in a reverse lookup comes from can also depend on the different types of phones. If you’re using a landline telephone, the details will come from the carriers. Most of the information for landlines is provided directly by the service provider to Caller ID Companies.
For Voice Over IP (VOIP), their companies are usually less integrated with directory assistance. Their information can be publicly available when a VOIP subscriber has asked the VOIP company to enable their caller ID.
Cellular or mobile phones lack directory assistance, which makes it more difficult to trace. So their data has to come from various places. Reverse phone lookup sites usually get information for cellular phones from different sources that have a person’s cell phone number and name.
Is It Legal to Use Reverse Lookup Sites?
Reverse phone lookup sites usually face difficulties when trying to gain access to relevant records for private numbers. And that’s because it is illegal for a caller ID service to hack a number or violate their privacy.
Legitimate reverse lookup sites usually use the roundabout way to find a phone number’s name and address. This roundabout method involves drawing information from publicly available databases, like phone directories, white pages, and social media accounts, for details related to a particular number. Information in such instances may be limited and its accuracy and usability will depend on the caller’s digital footprint and its security.
Other services, especially paid ones, usually have legitimate access to a variety of private and public records, which gives you sizeable datasets. That means by using them, you can get a much clearer picture of an unknown caller without causing a breach of the law.
How to Choose a Suitable Reverse Phone Lookup Service for You
Getting clear and more accurate results from a reverse phone lookup process depends on the kind of service you choose. Consider the following factors to select the best reverse phone lookup service:
- Extensive reports – choose a service that gives you well-detailed information about an unknown caller. That may include their name, address, employment history, social media profiles, and criminal history.
- Security and Privacy – A good service should be secure and anonymous. They should ensure that the data you enter into their platform is communicated securely through their encryption protocols to the servers.
- User experience – you do not need special detective skills to use a reverse lookup service. Alternatively, their search processing time, depth of report, and credibility of the provided information are what you should consider in a service.
- Quick and efficient – ensure that the service you pick can extract data from phone directories and listings in a matter of minutes. You don’t have to wait, especially when deciding whether you should block or call back.
- Supported countries – Not every reverse phone lookup service has a global database. Your preferred service should be able to support your country.
- Other background check features it possesses – Ensure that your service has supporting features that let you trace the unknown caller in depth.
Conclusion
Generally, the success of finding out who called me from this phone number using a reverse phone lookup process will largely depend on the platform you use. You can always find a legitimate reverse lookup service. And by using sites such as USPhoneLookup, you can find accurate results as soon as minutes.
