Maybe you've lost track of an old friend who moved away and all you have to go on is a phone number from a few years ago. Or there might be an ex-partner you want to track down, or an old friend or family member you want to add to your Christmas card list. Whatever may be your reason, you can find people by phone number if you know where to look.

You can go online and check any of the several options to find people by phone number offered all over the Internet by the free reverse lookup services, (it's called "reverse" because you start with a number and look for a name, - the reverse of a phone book). But you'll find that such free services provide limited information on a limited amount of numbers because they work from databases that cover only public domain information, such as the fixed-line (called landline) telephone number you have at home.

If you're trying to find people by phone number and what you have for doing the check up is a landline number, you will only get from a free reverse lookup service the basic details about the owner of the phone number. You'll learn the name and address, but not much else. While sometimes that may be all you need, often you would like to know much more information about the person. And a free service can't give you any kind of information if the number is either of a cell phone, or an unlisted number, or a VoIP, (Internet phone service), number.

Finally, in general most free phone number services don't update regularly their information database. That means any information you might receive to find people by phone number could no longer be accurate - and you'll have reached a dead end in your search.

To get answers, you may be tempted to hire a private investigator, but you don't have to. The same phone databases private investigators use to get information are also available for you to use. There's nothing secret or special about them; they're right there on the Internet. You can have access to the same knowledge as private investigators to find people by phone number simply by subscribing to a reliable and reputable online service for a small fee. You'll find it so ridiculously more affordable and far simpler than hiring an expensive private investigator.

Sure, you'll have to spend a couple of minutes registering, entering the phone number, and waiting for the results, but you probably won't be sending yourself a bill. Even if you did, the time you'll spend completing one of these searches is nothing compared to all of the time you'd spend filling in your private investigator about the case details.

Using the subscription service you can personally find people by phone number, even if it's a cell phone or unlisted number, because their database has more records available than has virtually any other service around. And the good news is that you don't even need a recent number. If you haven't been in touch with the person in several years it doesn't matter. As a subscriber to the service you'll be able to use expanded search tools. Even if the last time you called that number was five or ten years ago - with the databases available to a reliable and reputable subscription service you'll be able to find people by phone number consistently.

You can find a reliable and reputable service at: find people by phone number

About the Author

William Grigsby, a retired multinational corp. executive, is now a consultant and writer.