People are not very familiar with free cell phone carrier lookup services (well, with not free either), so having an FAQ section in the beginning and answering all the questions about this unknown beast seems to be the best solution.
Questions and Answers
I have never heard about a phone lookup. What is it?
Lookup service allows you to track a cell phone by number. Depending on the app you use, the information you get may include:
- current location;
- previous addresses;
- name of the owner;
- workplace.
Such services are usually web-based, represented by a search bar on a site where you must paste the required phone number.
How do such services work?
There are many open databases containing all that personal information that is not private. It means you may easily find one’s address or workplace, for instance, but there is no way you can get one’s banking details. Number lookup apps analyze such databases and provide all the information connected to the phone number you entered.
Are such services free?
There is no general rule; some are free, some may cost a reasonable sum, and some come as one of the features in a package for a bigger app, and you need to pay the full app price to use it.
Why would one need to use phone lookup?
There are cases when it is necessary to check a person’s address, workplace, or simply ensure their phone number is still active. Sometimes, you only know their number and cannot access the device to install a heavy-weight tracker. It is exactly the situation when you can track a phone number using a lookup service.
Lookup Services to Try
Before we get to the titles, we would like to highlight one thing that is the same for all of them: you must know the phone number, which should be entered in the search field on the services’ website. No exceptions.
GEOfinder.mobi
GEOfinder’s phone lookup service is only one of many features in the package. It would not be as useful on its own, as it only checks the number’s provider. Still, together with its location tracker by phone number, WiFi, and VPN connection checkers, it turns into a really reasonable power. It’s anonymous, doesn’t require installation, and offers a $1 trial for 48 hours.
The procedure is the following:
- Enter the number on the website;
- Get the link to track the cell phone number;
- Send it to that number with an engaging text message;
- As soon as the link is opened, you get all the available info.
Whitepages
Whitepages is a famous American reference service. When you watch a movie about special agents and hear: “My phone number is taken out from the reference book”, they talk exactly about Whitepages. For people’s convenience, it was digitalized and can now be accessed via the website.
You can track the phone location by number for free and additionally get the following data:
- other phone numbers;
- current and previous addresses;
- background info;
- landline number, if available.
This service is great, but unfortunately, it only works on the territory of the United States and only with the American numbers.
Messente
The developers claim this service is amazing for those doing business. When you enter the number in the search field on their website, you check if it is still active and can accept phone calls. For instance, it might be a great tool for those who do cold advertising calls. Its main advantage is that it is completely free.
Dexatel
Dexatel is an anonymous app to track phone number location free of charge. Unlike Whitepages, it does not provide any information about the number owner. Instead, it gives you a “full portfolio” on the number: carrier name, country, line status, and even the country code, especially for those who cannot google it knowing the country name.
Search People Free
Search People Free is a decent security option for all those tired of weird, unknown calls. It allows you to check all the previous owners of the number (which is easy nowadays, considering that you provide your full name when you buy a number) and check how often this number was reported for fraudulent activity.
Similar Services
Many lookup services work not only with phone numbers. If you use Search People Free or Whitepages, you can use one’s address, e-mail, or full name to retrieve all other info. It is very useful as you may not know one’s number but still need to find their address. What to do in this case? Type in their name with the lookup service!
Conclusion
Lookup services are great if you need to find someone secretly. You will never have legal problems if you use them as they surf only the publically available reference websites and personal data. Moreover, many of those “lookupers” are free, except for those that come as features in the toolbox of another tracker. Of course, should you want to track someone and read their messages permanently, they won’t help; if you want to find a person, knowing only their name or phone number, they might be of great use!
