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Here's How to Trace a Name for Almost Any Phone Number

The process of tracing a name and address using only a phone number is called a 'reverse phone look-up'.

Using a reverse phone lookup is much like using a telephone directory, the only difference being, you start off with a name and look for the phone number in a directory, whereas with a reverse phone look-up you start off with an unrecognizable phone number and look for the person's name and address using several various sources.

How to trace a name and address from almost any phone number

While the process of tracing names and phone numbers of listed landlines, whether business or residential, is surprisingly straightforward and easy; the process of tracing calls made from cell phones and unlisted numbers can be quite complex.

Before you initiate a reverse phone lookup you may want to open up your old address book or look through your stack of business cards just to make sure that the number does not belong to a long forgotten friend or business acquaintance that you have not heard from for some time.

If the number you are cross checking is a landline phone number, you can easily find the person it belongs to by doing a 'reverse search' of the number.

If it is a residential line, you can get all the details you need at Whitepages or Switchboard. Business addresses can be traced at Superpages and Yellowpages. Whocalled is the place to go to for commercial calls and scammers as well as telemarketers.

By now you should have ideally found what you were looking for unless the caller was using a cell phone or an unlisted phone.

If you have not managed to find the name and address yet, then your next option is to look up information on the phone number using any of the major search engines including Google, Yahoo!, MSN or Phone search.

These search engines do a thorough search of almost all the websites on the public internet. All you have to do is enter the phone number and do a search. You could do several searches by typing in the phone number differently each time.

If you have a 9-digit number, 123456789, here are some of the ways you can enter the number:

123456789
0123456789
012-345-6789

If none of these work, do another search putting each of the combinations of in quotation marks in this manner:

"123456789"
"012345678"
"012-345-678"

If you still do not succeed despite trying all the above methods, it may be time to employ a reverse cell phone look up using a reputable phone-trace company.

These companies will help trace you a name and address from a phone number using their huge database of records that have been accumulated from data brokers, public information and several other confidential sources.

Earlier, when your phone rang, your only option was to answer it and find out who the caller was. If it was a wrong number or a prank call; tough. You would only know after you answered. Ignoring calls from unidentifiable callers could mean you may miss a few calls from genuine friends or business colleagues.

Some of the ways that reverse phone lookup helps include:

Obtaining the name of the caller - If you are being plagued by repeated obscene, threatening or plain prank phone calls from a number you do not recognize, reverse phone lookup helps you obtain the name of the person behind those calls.

Obtaining the address of a long-forgotten friend - If you have a friend's phone number but have misplaced the address, a reverse phone lookup can quickly retrieve it for you.

Conducting Background checks - Employers can find out more about prospective employees and potential dates can do back ground checks on each other by simply using the employees' or date's phone number to conduct a reverse phone lookup.

Recollecting an acquaintance's name - If you met an interesting person at a function and only wrote down the person's phone number, a reverse phone lookup would get you out of an embarrassing spot by helping you put a name to the number.

Screening your phone calls - If you are busy in the office and do not want to be disturbed unless it is urgent, a quick reverse phone lookup will help you ascertain who the caller is even before the phone stops ringing. You can then quickly decide whether or not you want to take that call.

With the ability to find names and addresses for you, the net's various reverse phone lookup resources are set to make phone indexes and address books obsolete.

Article Source: http://www.dummiesguideto.com

Ian Armstrong is a recognized expert in the online investigation industry. Ian recommends using Reverse Cell Phone Search for reverse cell phone lookups, for as little as $14.95.

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