# Are there any FREE reverse phone number look-up sites? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 25, 2017, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-free-reverse-phone-number-look-up-sites/799824 "2017-10-25T17:56:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![jebert](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ec9cab/32.png) [@jebert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jebert)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2017, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-free-reverse-phone-number-look-up-sites/799824/1 "2017-10-25T17:56:58Z")
I’ve tried googling phone numbers to find out who is calling me, but I never seem to get any results. Also many sites charge for the info. With all the data that’s out there, I’d think that there should be a free reverse phone look-up available. If there is, surely someone here can tell me. ---
**Author:** ![JKilez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e5b9ba/32.png) [@JKilez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKilez)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2017, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-free-reverse-phone-number-look-up-sites/799824/2 "2017-10-25T18:19:04Z")
[http://www.zabasearch.com](http://www.zabasearch.com) is a free reverse lookup. It works for personal phone numbers, but probably not for the numbers of solicitors or scammers. ---
**Author:** ![MindsEye\_Watering](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mindseye_watering/32/3619_2.png) [@MindsEye\_Watering](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MindsEye_Watering)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2017, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-free-reverse-phone-number-look-up-sites/799824/3 "2017-10-25T19:11:57Z")
> [@JKilez](#): > > [http://www.zabasearch.com](http://www.zabasearch.com) is a free reverse lookup. It works for personal phone numbers, but probably not for the numbers of solicitors or scammers. Doesn’t seem to work on cell phones either. ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2017, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-free-reverse-phone-number-look-up-sites/799824/4 "2017-10-25T19:24:20Z")
I’ve had some luck with [this](https://www.whitepages.com/), but it’s pretty spotty. ---
**Author:** ![Evan\_Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b487fb/32.png) [@Evan\_Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evan_Drake)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2017, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-free-reverse-phone-number-look-up-sites/799824/5 "2017-10-25T20:02:06Z")
In Britain I just directly google the number and it shows a set of sites like this, [https://who-called.co.uk/](https://who-called.co.uk/), where all the complaints about that scammer’s number can be perused. I imagine there are too many cellphones to be enumerated; however you could always borrow a friend’s phone and call the number demanding answers… A thread from another forum: > **[Reverse Phone Lookup](https://www.techguy.org/threads/reverse-phone-lookup.1119096/)** > > Is there any "free" reverse phone lookup that won't charge to do this? I'm looking for an ower of a phone number and need their name. Every site I've seen will charge to give you a report. > Thanks ---
**Author:** ![StarsApart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecc23a/32.png) [@StarsApart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StarsApart)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2017, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-free-reverse-phone-number-look-up-sites/799824/6 "2017-10-26T04:40:48Z")
You can see if your library subscribes to ReferenceUSA. You can search by phone number in that database; you’ll just need a library card number to log in. ---
**Author:** ![TRC4941](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trc4941/32/6792_2.png) [@TRC4941](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TRC4941)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2017, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-free-reverse-phone-number-look-up-sites/799824/7 "2017-10-26T14:01:59Z")
I have the White Pages app on my phone. It includes a reverse phone lookup. It’s always worked when I’ve used it. It won’t work with cell numbers tho - only landlines. ---
**Author:** ![x-ray\_vision](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/x-ray_vision/32/351_2.png) [@x-ray\_vision](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/x-ray_vision)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2017, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-free-reverse-phone-number-look-up-sites/799824/8 "2017-10-26T14:10:14Z")
I’ve had the most luck with this one: > **[I USE SPY DIALER TO LOOKUP PHONE NUMBERS!](https://www.spydialer.com/)** > > Spy Dialer is the sneaky but legal way to find out who unknown phone numbers go to. Search for free! https://spydialer.com You can even hear their voicemail outgoing message without their phone ringing. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2017, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-free-reverse-phone-number-look-up-sites/799824/9 "2017-10-26T15:49:33Z")
OP: Why are you trying to do this? Do you have some specific reason to believe these are real calls by real callers? Substantially all calls from telemarketers and scammers alike are from faked numbers. Even if you could accurately look up who the number on your screen really belongs to, that’s almost certainly not who called you. ---
**Author:** ![Evan\_Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b487fb/32.png) [@Evan\_Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evan_Drake)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2017, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-free-reverse-phone-number-look-up-sites/799824/10 "2017-10-26T16:43:46Z")
On the other hand, when one has an unidentified number, it is useful to look it up and see it’s a scammer or salesman instead of answering and being pulled in to their deranged world. Plus as the British link I gave says for those numbers that ring off quickly: _The number you call back may be redirected to a premium rate service (a number that starts with 09) without your knowledge, which means you will be charged a lot of money per minute._ _The number may tell you that you have won a prize of some sort and give you another number to call to ‘claim’ your prize, but they may not tell you how much the call will cost. This second number may be a premium rate number, again charging you a lot of money to get your prize._ So it may be an old friend or maybe a known scam number. Best to check first. ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2017, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-free-reverse-phone-number-look-up-sites/799824/11 "2017-10-26T17:20:18Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > OP: Why are you trying to do this? Do you have some specific reason to believe these are real calls by real callers? > > Substantially all calls from telemarketers and scammers alike are from faked numbers. Even if you could accurately look up who the number on your screen really belongs to, that’s almost certainly not who called you. Yes this, you are wasting your time trying to find out who the numbers calling you are. The numbers are almost certainly ‘spoofed’. The scammer/spammer/robo callers are even beginning to use your own area code and your own prefix in an effort to fool you into thinking it is someone local calling, to get you to answer. I don’t get many of these calls on my cell phone but once I got called by an apparently local number with my area code and my Verizon prefix, so I just called it back. The guy who answered was a local guy who I don’t know. No, he didn’t call me, no he doesn’t know me and he started to think that I was some kind of crank. The spoofers had just used his number to make it seem like that was where the call was coming from. It could have been coming from anywhere and as far as I know there is no way to find out where. > **[Caller ID Spoofing](https://www.fcc.gov/spoofing)** > > Caller ID spoofing is when a caller deliberately falsifies the information transmitted to your caller ID display to disguise their identity. Spoofing is often used as part of an attempt to trick someone into giving away valuable personal information... ---
**Author:** ![Ellecram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellecram/32/18948_2.png) [@Ellecram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellecram)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2017, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-free-reverse-phone-number-look-up-sites/799824/12 "2017-11-02T02:13:20Z")
> [@x-ray\_vision](#): > > I’ve had the most luck with this one: > > [https://www.spydialer.com/](https://www.spydialer.com/) > > You can even hear their voicemail outgoing message without their phone ringing. This worked! I was finally able to find out who called me a few weeks ago. Mystery solved.