Free Cell Phone Number Directories and Reverse Cell Phone Number Lookup

Are there any cell phone number directories on Internet? Can I trace someone's cell phone number for free? Can I make a reverse cell phone search for free?

These were the questions I had before I lookup a cell phone number. In the process of searching for a cell phone caller, I've gone through almost every advertised "free" cellphone look up site or self-claimed "free" lookup site, read my adventure.

First, cell phone search has two sides. One side is to search someone's cell phone number by name or by address, it is called cell phone number search or cell phone people search. Another part is to search someone's name or address by cell phone number, this side of the search is called reverse cell phone search or reverse cell phone lookup.

At these free cell phone lookup websites, you might find some thing, but 99% time, you find nothing at all. However, the reputable and paid reverse phone lookup directories give you a sure chance to find the cell phone number.

Here are free cell phone information.

(1) Free Cell Phone Number Lookup Sprint: If you have a Sprint cell phone, dial this toll free number 1-800-444-3333 from the Sprint cell phone, it will tell you exactly the owner's name and address. If you think you've received a call from a Sprint cell phone, you can dial 1-877-785-8414 and make a free reverse cell phone lookup at Sprint. The Sprint voice-bot would read back to you the full name and street address of the cell phone owner associated with the cell phone number. (update: Users reported the last Sprint phone number is no longer working, Sprint has disabled it for an apparent security leak). I've a dedicated article on Sprint Cell Phone Lookup.

(2) Free Revese cell Phone Lookup Cingular and AT & T: This AT&T/Cingular link lets you to enter a cell phone number, it then tells you if the phone number is part of the Cingular cellular network or not. That's all about FREE cell phone lookups from AT&T website. You also need to have an AT&T cell phone and login to check if the number is part of the AT&T/Cingular wireless network. AT&T website doesn't disclose the cell phone owner's user name or address information. I've just finished another article exclusively discuss AT&T/Cingular Cell phone search.

(3) This website is Verizon's Residential Phone Reverse Lookup. Give it a try and see if the call is from a landline Verizon phone. If you think the call was from Verizon and you cannot find it above, chances are, it is a cell phone call. Then try Revese Cell Phone Lookup Verizon Wireless This link from Verizon Wireless allows you to enter a cell phone number, it then tells you if the number is part of the Verizon Wireless cellular network or not. Just like AT&T, the website doesn't disclose the cell phone owner's user name or address information. If you are looking for more information rather than that, you have to checkout other sites below. In addition, I've recently wrote an article on Verizon Wireless.

(4) Free Cell Phone 411 Directory T-Mobile : This link is T-Mobile's 411 Directory link. T-Mobile's 411 Directory offers many kind of services, however, the 411 directory service has not offered free cellular phone number services, at least not yet.

(5) If you have no objections to share your cell phone number with others, register your name, cell phone number (required), home address at a new website called National Cellular Directory. Chances are, you might have been there. This website was launched in February 2008, it might have a few users registered with them on fake cell phone numbers in the past couple weeks. They don't have any guarantee on search results. The real question is why would a smart cell phone owner would want to register his cell phone number and made it widely available to anyone? It has huge cost and consequences after your private information is sold to data brokers. Read my report on Protect Personal Information.

(6) You can also try WhoCalled.us. You put the cell phone number in at whocalled.us, then wait to see if there are any entries from other users reported about the same phone number. I've tried some numbers, nope, find nothing, they really have nothing to offer.

(7) Websites such as "freecellphonelookups".com used a pretty domain name, put tons of free keywords at their website, but it doesn't offer free cell phone search results at all, worse than all of the above, the website is connected to a paid website on any cell phone number you search.

(8) Some other websites such as cellphonedirectory.com or addresses.com also claimed to give you free cell phone search, but they don't offer "free results".

This is the full list of free cell phone number lookup websites. I have tried all of them, they won't help me but gave me more headache and frustration.

The truth of fact is all cellular providers don't disclose their cell phone client details to the public or telemarketers. The cell phone numbers are guarded by cellular providers. In last December, Congress resurrected the issue with a bill (S. 2454) that would ban the creation of a mobile directory. The measure is currently before the Senate Commerce Committee.

Verizon, which has referred to the idea of a wireless directory as a "dumb idea". "This is a violation of Americans' privacy," Steve Zipperstein, vice president and general counsel of Verizon Wireless, said in a statement. "People expect their cell phone number to remain private."

The trick is you have to use good "backdoors" to find someone's cell phone number or the caller's information.

If you are very serious about looking up someone's cell phone number, you have to visit a dedicated cell phone lookup site with good reputation. These sites bought cell phone numbers from data brokers and confidential sources.

According to Cell Phone Reverse Lookup Review and Consumers-Guide.com. the top rated and the best site is Reverse Phone Detective. Reverse Phone Detective has over 1 billion phone numbers include 230 million cell phone numbers, it is the most reliable cell phone lookup provider. I used it and I liked it. From what I read on many other reviews, Reverse Mobile also provides accurate and reliable reverse phone lookup results.

You will be likely to pay a small fee at these providers to cover their cost of collecting the data. This fee not only gives you unlimited access to cell phone lookup, you can also make unlimited searchs on residential, business, toll-free or pagers, you can search address by cell phone number, you can get results on unlisted cell phone number search, in addition, you can also gain access to personal background information such as date of birth, race, marriage status, public records etc about the cell phone caller.

So are there any other free cell phone directories actually exist out there on the Internet? Is there a free cell phone directory for T-Mobile? Verizon Wireless? Cingular/AT&T? Suncom? Sprint/Nextel?

Disappointing to say, based on my extensive research, the answer to this question is negative. There is no total free cell phone lookup websites, the best total free cell phone lookup website doesn't exist.

There are plenty of free phone lookup sites for land line numbers, but why isn't a free cell phone cell phone directory search?

Yes, there are many free landline reverse phone lookup sites, in fact, you can just make a reverse phone lookup right at Google's search box. Residential telephone number is considered public domain information, the white page has been opening to the public for decades. That's why no one has to ask your permission to publish your number in the telephone book, by default, your name is listed on public phone directory.

As a matter of fact, you have to pay a fee to get your home phone number unlisted and keep your name out of phone books and white pages.

Cellular phone numbers are generally more private and secure. Because your cell phone is billed by minutes, you're charged for every call you receive or made, including these telemarketers you don't want to talk to. Few of us receive cell phone calls from telemarketers except from your own cellular providers. It's illegal for them to call your cell phone without permission. That's why cell phone numbers are typically harder to track down and it is not widely avaliable in public.

The Talk of Wireless 411 Directory

A few years back, there was some talks about putting together a public cell phone directory. All of the different cell phone service providers (except Verizon) such as AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, Nextel, and Cingular etc would contribute their client numbers to a central database, and the directory would be made available to the public. However, the concern about telemarketers, phone time usuages, and privacy issues caused the idea abandoned, no providers have discussed this initiative again.

However, this doesn't mean that putting together a cell phone directory is impossible. The truth is it has been done by several companies. Several companies have compiled information manually on millions of records from different sources such as free cell phone giveaways, cheap perks, or confidential data brokers. Because it takes money, work, and time to compile such a directory, none would want to offer this service for free. You might have seen many websites offer paid directory service, but in fact, most of them are affiliates, the databases are from several major providers Cell Phone Reverse Lookup Review has rated and reviewed over 50 such providers.

In conclusion, there is no real free cell phone directory or free people search by cell phone. With a small price, you can get unlimited cell phone search and background information check.