How to Find Out Who a Phone Number Belongs To (5 Methods)

There are several reasons why you may need to find who a phone number belongs to. Usually, you may use it when you want to find out who is behind an unknown caller. The other reasons include when you want to identify the person behind harassing phone calls, missed calls, or messages and find lost contacts. You can also use it to verify their background or reconnect with your long-lost pals.

However, finding a person to whom the contact belongs has certain drawbacks, such as legal and ethical considerations, incomplete data, privacy concerns, and no accuracy guarantee.

Hence, I created this review article after testing several effective and legal methods for countless hours. My only aim is to offer you first-hand-reviewed genuine products and reliable solutions to meet your needs. You can now dive into the best methods for finding who a phone number belongs to and select the one that is suitable for you.

Method 1: How to Find Out Who a Phone Number Belongs to Using Reverse Phone Lookup

Reverse phone lookup software is one of the most reliable sources for identifying the owner of a phone number. These tools extract information instantly with data accuracy as they have advanced databases.

These sites ensure privacy and safety, and they comply with all legal policies. Such applications work with both iOS and Android devices. Here are the best reverse phone lookup sites, which our team and I have carefully reviewed and can recommend.

1) Spokeo

I particularly liked Spokeo because it can search through millions of phone records. It is a good idea to consider this site for finding records of phone number owners for both cell phones and landlines, as it has a large database.

This tool provides accurate results within a few minutes or even seconds. Spokeo also offers other services, such as name, email, and address lookup.

Features:

• Name and other Details: In just a matter of seconds, you can identify the caller. Spokeo offers full details, including their first and last name, age, and gender.
• Contact Information: This tool can display all the phone numbers associated with the owner. I could find an individual’s business numbers, landline, and other personal numbers. 
• Personal Details: It allowed me to view the individual’s property ownership information in detail. Spokeo also discloses their estimated income and investments.
• Location: Its location details let you find out their current address with complete area details. You can also view their previous address and their co-residents.
• Family Members: Spokeo not only uncovers information about unknown calls and people but also their relatives and even neighbors. It helped me access relative’s and neighbor’s contact numbers, locations, names, and other details.

Pricing Plans:

• Pricing: It starts at $0.95 7-day trial.

Visit Spokeo >>

Basic Search Results are Free

Here is a step-by-step procedure that I used to look up a phone number on Spokeo:

Step 1) Go to its reverse phone lookup page using https://www.spokeo.com/reverse-phone-lookup

Step 2) Type the phone number you want to look up in its search bar. Once done, you can click on “Search Now.”

Step 3) You will then be taken to a new page where you can click on the option Unlock Results. For first-timers, you can use their free trial membership in a special offer for $0.95 and get the results.

Visit Spokeo >>

Basic Search Results are Free

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2) Intelius

According to my research, Intelius is a great option for reverse phone lookups. Its public records database helps find out owner and carrier details with a comprehensive search. I could anonymously search without the person being notified, as Intelius encrypts all searches and protects your privacy.

Moreover, it helps to look up not only unknown numbers but also friends and potential online dates. You also get a complete background check of the phone number owner, including their legal records.

Features:

• Owner Details: Intelius allows me to access complete owner details such as their full name and known aliases. This service also aids me in finding people’s social media accounts on various platforms. 
• Additional Contact Info: Intelius can dig up all their additional contacts, such as their alternate number, email, and more. I was able to find several email addresses and additional mobile numbers of an individual that I looked up. 
• Location History: This feature provides you with addresses that are related to the phone number. You also get to know if these addresses are related to the current or previous owner, hence, you get a complete, up-to-date information.
• Related people details In this section, you get information about their possible relatives and relationships. I could get my old pal’s relatives and neighbor’s names, numbers, and addresses during the phone number lookup.

Pricing Plans:

• Pricing: It starts at $0.95 for a 5-day trial and then $34.3 per month

Visit Intelius >>

5-Days Trial for $0.95

Here, I have given a step-by-step process on how to use Intelius:

Step 1) Visit the https://www.intelius.com/reverse-phone-lookup/. Type in the number on its search bar and click on Search Now.

Step 2) Intelius will then ask you to confirm your age to ensure you are 18+.

Step 3) It will then perform the reverse phone number lookup and offer you the results. As a new user, you will have to submit your name and email address, where you will receive the detailed report.

Visit Intelius >>

5-Days Trial for $0.95

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3) PeopleLooker

As per my review, PeopleLooker is one of the best tools for people searches which also offers phone number look up service. It goes through millions of background reports to help provide contact number details.

This tool can help helps you avoid scams and online dating frauds. It includes other services such as property search, email search, directory, B2B and unclaimed money search.

Features:

• Background Reports: Its reports may include names, phone numbers, and relatives. I could also find pictures, email addresses, and court records related to the phone number. 
• People SiteMap: PeopleLooker has a sitemap with data on numerous people’s names. This lets you find people from a large pool of names that is divided into 50 separate pages.
• Current and Past Address: It provides the current address details and past residential locations.

Pricing Plans:

• Pricing: 1) Three-Month Membership plans start at $19.19 for 100 reports per month 2) Monthly Membership plans start at $23.99 for 100 reports per month. After 7-day trial, the account will be charged the full amount for the plan they chose when signing up.

Visit PeopleLooker >>

7-Day Paid Trial for $1

You can use this step-by-step guide on how to use PeopleLooker:

Step 1) Visit its official page by clicking on https://www.peoplelooker.com/phone-number-search/

Step 2) Fill in its search bar with a phone number you want to reverse lookup and tap on “Search”.

Step 3) You will then be asked to submit your email address.

Step 4) Once the results are ready, you can click “I agree” on a pop-up and choose one of its plans to receive the reports. I suggest you try its 7-day paid trial first so you can decide if you want to continue with its services. 

Visit PeopleLooker >>

7-Day Paid Trial for $1

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4) BeenVerified

BeenVerified is a people, contact information, vehicle, and address search tool. It can help you identify your long-lost friends and family members. I could also use it to help generate better leads for my company and improve customer data.

It helped me identify unknown numbers and missed calls quickly. I noticed that it can also help users search for unclaimed money and obituaries.

Features:

• Phone Lookup Report: Using its phone lookup service, I received a detailed report. The report included data such as the contact number’s possible name, aliases, other associated phone numbers, and social media profiles.
• Address Details: Its contact lookup can help you locate the phone number owner’s current and past addresses. Apart from their residence, I could also view the locations they were associated with in the past, such as school or college.
• Block Spams: BeenVerified can help identify telemarketers and robocalls, which helps you block spam and scammers.
• Images: I could find several images associated with the phone number, as BeenVerified can dig up available online pictures from all social media, including dating profiles.
• It sifts through public data records to help provide contact number details.

Pricing Plans:

• Pricing: Plans start at $36.89/mo for 100 reports and $23.98 for 3 months. After the 7-day trial, the account will be charged the full amount for the plan they chose when signing up.

Visit BeenVerified >>

7-Day Trial for $1

How to use BeenVerified to find out the phone number owner:

Step 1) Go to the official website of BeenVerified and click on PhoneLookup.

Step 2) After the PhoneLookup Page opens, type the phone number in its search bar and tap “Search”.

Step 3) Once you hit “Search,” it will instantly start searching for the contact owner’s information.

Step 4) It will then take you to its payment page, where you can pay $1 or $5 for its 7-day membership to try out its features and receive your report.

Visit BeenVerified >>

7-Day Trial for $1

Method 2: Use search engines to find who the phone number belongs to

I particularly appreciate Google and Bing for their ability to look up phone owners. They offer a completely free way to search for billions of answers online. Hence, they can be a useful tool when it comes to looking for phone number owners. 

1) Google

Google is one of the most popular and top search engines for phone number lookups. It comes with a Phonebook feature that can also help you find the owner of a contact number in your phone. This feature allows you to find the number if it is listed in the phonebook.

The other method is to use its database, which is the most straightforward solution for unknown numbers.

Here is a step-by-step representation of how I used Google Search to find an unknown number:

Step 1) Go to Google

Step 2) Type in the 10-digit number in the search bar

Step 3) Tap on Search or click enter and view the results. 

The number will appear in search results if it is listed. You can also click on any of the listings for more details about the number. This detail may even include the location of the caller in the results. Additionally, area code information can also help you find out where they are calling from.

Link: https://www.google.com/

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2) Bing

To perform phone number lookup using Bing, you can use a similar method as Google. Simply start by visiting Bing, then type the 10-digit phone number in its Search Bar, and hit “Enter”.

This will bring up several results that may help you identify who is behind a particular phone number.

The search engine method may not always give you the result or accuracy you are looking for, but it’s worth a try. If you’re trying to determine this number belongs to whom, using Google or Bing in combination with public records databases can help.

Link: https://www.bing.com/

Method 3: Find the phone number owner using Social Media sites

In my opinion, major social media sites are one of the best ways to collect phone numbers and email IDs. They serve as a resourceful substitute for other methods to find phone number owners and are completely free, needing only an internet connection.

Let us now briefly look at how these platforms can help you find who a contact number belongs to.

1) Facebook

This social media giant allows you to use three methods to find a phone number owner. Without further ado, let’s look at the steps that will answer “Who does this number belong to?” using Facebook.

Method 1) Search Bar

Step 1) You can simply type the phone number in the search bar.

Step 2) Then hit Enter to find the owner.

Method 2) Find Friends Feature

Step 1) Go to “Find Friends” feature

Step 2) Type the number into the “Search For Friends” section and await the results.

Method 3) Sync Contacts

This method can be used if you have saved the person’s contact before searching on your phone.

Step 1) Sync your contacts with Facebook.

Step 2) The app then checks the contacts against the usernames on Facebook and suggests you the right owner.

Note: If they have opted to keep their number hidden in Facebook settings, the above methods may not work.

2) LinkedIn

LinkedIn is a social media application used for professional networking. It helps in finding phone numbers instantly. All you need to do is log in to your LinkedIn account, go to the search bar, and enter the contact number. Then, click on the search icon and allow it to load the results.

3) Instagram

Being one of the highest used social media platforms, Instagram helps you find information on users effortlessly. To find the owner of a contact number, you can log in to your account.

Once logged in, you must go to your profile and select the “Discover People” option. Next, allow the app to access your contact list by going to your phone’s settings menu. Once your contacts are linked with Instagram, you can view the number associated with a particular account.

Method 4: Find the owner of a phone number using Phonebook and Directories

In my opinion, Phonebooks and special directories are perfect for finding out who owns a contact number. These services have been answering “Who does the number belong to?” for generations, making them very reliable.

All the traditional phonebooks and directories are now found online, hence, you can access them easily. Furthermore, they are compatible with both iOS and Android phones.

1) Yellow Pages

Yellow Pages is one of the best and oldest traditional phonebooks. It came to be in 1833 and began its online listing in 1996. You can find a phone number and owner name by visiting its reverse phone lookup page.

Simply type the 10-digit phone number in its search bar and wait for it to perform the Search.

Link: https://people.yellowpages.com/whitepages/phone-lookup

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2) White Pages

White Pages is an online directory service that helps in background checking, fraud screening, identity verification, and more.

It offers one of the largest contact detail databases in the US. You can simply access its site, go to reverse phone number search, and find who is behind the incoming calls. Like any other phone number lookups listed in this article, you can enter the phone number in its search bar and wait for it to perform the Search for you.

Link: https://www.whitepages.com/reverse-phone

Method 5: Call to find out who is behind an unknown number

In my experience, the final and simplest method is to call the number directly. This straightforward approach always works if the owner answers the call. If you’re unsure whether to call back, you may first want to check who owns the number that called you? Find out with this simple method using an online reverse phone lookup service.

To protect your privacy, adding *67 before dialing the number can help mask your phone number from the recipient. This helps you steer clear of scammers, as you never know who you are calling back.

Is it legal to find out who the phone number belongs to?

Yes, it is legal to find out who the phone number belongs to as long as you follow the guidelines and respect privacy. However, the rules may vary in different locations, thus, make sure you are abiding by the rules of that particular region.

How can I find out who a phone number belongs to for free?

There are a few truly free reverse phone lookup online services and social media platforms that can help you find the contact number owner for free.

However, for more accurate results and detailed reports, you will have to pay a small fee in most of the cases. These are paid services but cost as low as $0.95 for one-time reports.

Verdict

All the methods provided above can produce reliable or closest results. However, the amount of details that you can acquire may vary.

I have found a few techniques that are incredibly effective and would like to share them with you. If you are wondering who owns this phone number, reverse lookup tools and phone directories can provide accurate information.

• Reverse lookup tools: The reverse lookup tools offer comprehensive details instead of only the owner’s name. It is the top method used for answering your “this number belongs to whom?” questions. 
• Phonebook and Directories: The phonebook and special directories have been around for quite a long time. Thus, they are reliable sources of information.
• Call the person: Unlike paid services, directly calling back to find out the caller is the easiest way in this case. However, it depends on the situation, hence, if it is not related to any safety issues, calling back is always a great option.