David Shell asked:

Doing a reverse telephone number lookup is very much like detective work: you follow the trail until you find out who is the culprit. In this case, “culprit” is the person who owns that telephone number that keeps calling your number, or that number somebody gave to you the night before (but you only realize there’s no name on it the day after).

It doesn’t matter if it is a telephone number or a cell phone number. Most people think that the detective work can all be done if they just do a free reverse telephone number lookup on unidentified numbers. However, the fact is, you can rarely get a free service of that type, and just like when you’re hiring a private detective, you need to pay. Thankfully, the cost of a reverse telephone number search is much less than the cost of hiring a PI.

So if you’ve been at the receiving of a prank call, reverse lookups are something to go for.

In both cases of landline and cell phone, it’s not that easy to trace a number. The telemarketing companies have it easier – they just choose random names in the directory and make the call (you if you’re unlucky). With a reverse lookup, you need to match a specific number to a specific name – something not very easy to do especially because, in the case of landline directories, the entries are listed by names.

Reverse lookup companies are not at all hard to find. Just search for the words “reverse lookup” and you will find results. In many cases depending on the company, you will be asked to pay a one-time payment for an unlimited number of searches. But the fees shouldn’t make a big hole in your pocket. Average fees are in the range of $39 to 59.

A typical search result would yield in the owner’s name, location, address telephone company. Other companies provide expanded information like the background of the owner and his or her records.

Of course, there are other ways that you can do a reverse lookup. They are free but they would cost more in time and in most cases it becomes a hit or miss situation. One thing you can do is search for the number on search engines like Google, Yahoo or MSN. If the number has been entered into one of the indexed websites, you should be able to find some leads on who has been calling, if not find the matching name to the number during the first search.

Another thing that you can do is to sign up with a free cell phone directories, but the information you’ll find there are those that have been volunteered by the members. To access these websites, you have to register for free and, of course, volunteer your name and cell phone number.

All things being considered, the sheer accuracy of information and the extensive database should tip the balance in favor of paid reverse lookups. The small fee charged to do a reverse lookup is more than worth it.

Ed Opperman asked:


(c) 2009 Ed Opperman Do you keep getting harassing phone calls and you are getting tired of it? There are many people that have this same problem and believe it or not, but there is now a way that you can do your own telephone harassment investigation. It is not hard to do, you just need to know how to get the investigation done for the telephone harassment that has been happening. The first step in doing your own telephone harassment investigation is to get online and find the technology that will let you find out who the person is behind the calls. There is a product available known as a trap line that you can start using on your phones right away. It is not hard to get set up and you can even use it if you have more than one phone, it will even work with cell phones. The only way to find and get trap line is to go online. You can’t get this technology from any phone company. Now, you may be asking if it is legal to use this technology for your telephone harassment investigation and the answer is yes, it is very legal. With so many people getting harassing phone calls, there had to be a way for individuals to stop them and now there is. After you have the technology to use with on your phones, the next step is to wait for the phone call. Once the phone call comes in, the trap line will show you the name and phone number of the person calling, even if they have tried to block their number. Once you have this information, it is not hard for you to find out their address also. Now, when you do your telephone harassment investigation and you have gotten the information about the person calling you, you don’t want to go off and try to confront them yourself. Instead, contact the proper authorities to let them know about the harassing phone calls and let them know that you have the information of the person calling you. This will help them contact the person and put a stop to the calls. Doing a telephone harassment investigation is the best way to stop harassing phone calls from happening. You don’t want to try and take your investigation further because this could put you in danger. Instead, get the person’s information that is doing the telephone harassment and pass it on to whoever can legally stop them without putting themselves in danger. So, get started today so you can be free of the harassing phone calls before you know it.