Reverse Cell Phone Search Free

The only way to do a reverse cell phone lookup and get free results that include a name and address is to use the internet.

Here's why you can't just go to a reverse cell phone directory and get the information without paying anything:

• Unlike with land lines, no directory of cell phone numbers has ever been published.


• Privacy laws enacted by lobbyists and consumer groups prevent wireless carriers from publishing the names and address associated with each cell phone number without first getting each subscribers permission through an opt-in agreement.


• Wireless carriers have decided that putting out a directory could harm the relationship they have with their customers and lead to lengthy legal issues.

Understanding that there is no easy way to get a name and address for a cell or mobile number for free is important. It will help you understand what steps you will have to take to get the information. For more information as to the truth of whether or not you can do this for free in a simple directory, refer to this report on the validity of a Free Mobile Phone Number Search Directory.

That's okay, though, the web has a lot to offer if you know how to search correctly. The internet indexes all of the information found online so that you can search for one tiny piece of information and find anything online that matches that input. If the person who owns that number has put it online anywhere, finding that online site will give you the information you want for free. So, we'll just resort to our favorite search engine and see what we can dig up following these tips:

Type the full cell phone number into an internet search engine.

• Bring up the first 10 listings that match the phone number.


• Check each of those listings to see if they show a name and/or an address along with the phone number you are checking.


• If you don't find a name or address to match to the phone number, bring up the next 10 listings in the search engine results.

If you don't find any useful name or address information in the first 20 listings, then you need to change your search parameters. Your results are already listed by those that match the most closely and it's unlikely that any single individual will have their cell phone listed online on more than 20 websites.

Next, try a search without the cell phone's area code. Just type the last seven digits into a search engine and repeat the above process looking for the name and address information.

Still didn't find anything? Here's one more method for refining a search online that can yield very specific results:

Type the following into Google:

phone number site:facebook.com

If, for example, you are trying to do a reverse cell phone search free on the number 555-555-5555, you would enter:

555-555-5555 site:facebook.com

A search like this tells the search engine to just look throughout all of Facebook to see if that phone number is listed anywhere. You can also try searching other sites where people might possibly enter their mobile number:

eBay
LinkedIn
MySpace
Facebook
Google+

If you still can't find any information on the cell phone number, move on to the next module on this page.

Photo by: f_fuentes CC BY-SA 2.0

If those search engines didn't cough up any free information, then you can use a reverse cell phone directory to get some basic information for free. Sometimes it is enough information to accomplish your goal.

A reverse cell phone directory is an online database of the names, address, and background information tied to a cell phone number. While wireless carriers have decided not to publish this information, the laws do not prevent third parties from collecting this information and making it available through their service. However, because it costs them money to gather and store the information, they charge about $15 for a full phone report.

However, before you pay anything, you can do a reverse cell phone search and get some basic information for free from those reverse cell phone directories. You don't have to enter any of your own information. Simply find a reliable directory, type in the cell phone number and you will get the wireless carrier for that phone number, a general map of the area where the phone was first issued, and a pinpoint on a map of the generic location of that person's residence.

If you don't know where to start, try doing your free search at Reverse Mobile. I have used them and received very good results.

Remember, though, you're only going to get basic information for free. Once you see the reverse phone directory's free information, you'll also be shown the price to actually buy the name and address of that phone number if you decide to do so.

There are lots of reasons people need to get the name tied to a cell phone number through reverse cell phone searches:

• Stop prank callers.


• Find out who is calling you or your family repeatedly.


• Get the name of a cell phone number that shows up on a spouse's cell phone invoice at odd hours, days, or for lengthy calls.


• Find out who your children are talking to on the phone.


• Get background information on people you have coming to do work in your home - housekeeper, handyman, or lawn care staff.


• Find the address of a person who placed an order with your business and hasn't picked up their purchase.


• Get information about someone who owes you money and has only given you their cell phone number.

Before the internet was so widely available and white pages listings were published for everyone to access online, collection departments used to get large, hard cover reverse phone directories of land line phone numbers. With these giant books, they could reverse land line numbers, get the person's name and address and also find the names and address of neighbors for that person. It was a great way to track down information about people from who you needed to collect money.

Now, consumers are in a similar situation with cell phone numbers. Since there is no online directory of cell phone information, these reverse cell phone directories are really the only available source for a name, address, and background information about the owner of that phone number.

Maybe someday this information will be found easily for free online, but until then, it takes some hunting around for free information and if you can't find it for free, you have to resort to these directories. It may take a long time before that changes. Since cell phone subscribers have to pay for their service and, generally, their minutes used each month, it's most likely that the information will remain protected in some fashion.