Search online and you’ll find a number of websites that talk all about how a reverse phone search can help you to avoid prank calls, or to figure out who has been trying to contact you when the person didn’t leave a message and you don’t recognize the number. But there are still a large majority of people who don’t know what a reverse phone search is, or how it even works.

A reverse phone search is pretty much what it sounds like. When you want to get a hold of someone but you don’t know the number, you can go online to a specialized website and can simply punch in the name, and the location, of the person to get their phone number. This is because public and private directories can be accessed online, each through a different way, of course. When you’re talking about a reverse phone search, you’re basically talking about doing the same thing, only backwards. Instead of the website searching for a match to the person and location that you typed in, it will, instead, search for an exact match for the phone number that you entered.

There are a few things to know about this type of search before you do one. The first thing is that you should always look for a free search. A search that asks you to pay money for information that can be found through a public directory is one that you should definitely avoid, as it is simply one that is trying to get money out of you. However, most all companies will charge a small fee for finding records that are not publicly available (e.g. cell phone records, unlisted records), since that data has to be purchased. This is quite common and should not be mistaken for a scam. The second thing is that it works best if you include the area code. While all phone numbers vary, those in separate area codes may be the same, as it is the area code which makes them unique, so always input the area code.

Searching for phone numbers using a phone tracer website is actually really easy, as phone numbers are very specific, whereas a name can be one that is shared by many. How many John Smiths do you think exist, for example? And even seemingly obscure names can be owned by multiple people. With this type of search, however, your results are almost guaranteed, because phone numbers are all so very unique that no two are ever alike.

So how do you perform one of these types of searches? The first thing that you need to do is to find a company online that has the information for you. This company will have access to multiple public directories, and often private directories as well, in order to give you the information that you need. Make sure, before you use any of these specialized search engines, that you find one that is free, as you should never have to pay to find out who owns a phone number, especially if the number is on a public directory.

A reverse phone lookup can give you a lot of very important information, and can also be very easy to do as well. Take a look into the world of this type of search so that, the next time you receive a phone call from an unknown caller, you’ll be able to figure out exactly who is trying to reach you.

Author Bio: I’ve been working in the people search industry for a little over 7 years, first as a PI assistant and now as a freelance consultant to larger people search firms. I hope my article helps you find out who is calling you.To perform a reverse phone search, I recommend using http://www.freephonetracer.com, as this is one of the only sites I’ve found that offers publicly listed landline reports for free.

Category: Computers and Technology
Keywords: reverse phone search, free phone number look up, find out who is calling