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Nowadays, more than ever, information is important, for a whole host of reasons. Reverse phone number lookup service, as you may guess from the name, lets you look up someone’s phone number and gather information on them, and may even let you feed this info back in to get a full background check.
Why would this be useful, you may ask? For example, let’s say an unknown number calls you, and you don’t take the call. If you look up the number, you’ll receive a report that will likely provide you with the information regarding what entity called you, whether it be someone you know, a stranger, or some form of organization, like scam callers, and you can decide whether or not to call them back from there.
Or, say someone calls you intentionally, and you don’t know them, but they know you. You can look up their number and find out who they are, and level out the informational playing field.
And, as we mentioned earlier, these sites often function as background checking sites as well, meaning that you can look somebody up and get even more information on them. Quite convenient to be able to look up a phone number then delve into all the info of the person behind the number.
Pros:
- Reports are particularly rich in information, both in the width of what they cover and the depth of the detail.
- Their pricing plans make sense, with nothing confusing about it.
- Their mobile app and site both work quite well.
- They tell you how they use data and about how you can use their data.
- They have high-quality customer support.
- You can get the phone number searching membership for less than the regular membership.
Cons:
- You have to get a membership in order to use their services. No freebies or individual paid reports.
- You have to get a phone number searching membership to search phone numbers, even if you have a normal membership.
- They don’t have a free trial you can use to scope out their services better.
Our Review:
Truthfinder is one of the heavyweights on this list, with good all-around capabilities, being easy to use, comprehensive, and detailed. It is top tier in terms of quality and judging by how they run their site, they know it. If you want to learn more about someone or figure out how to contact them, this is a strong contender for being the best.Â
Now, Truthfinder, you have to pay for your reverse phone lookup, nothing you can do about that. However, in exchange for your money, it offers more places to draw information from; it has access to some private databases, not just public ones. This gives you more information to work with and a clearer picture of the number you’re looking up.
With infinite lookups, you can look up any number you want, with information such as their social media profiles, photos of the person, and some police records on them. In addition, the person that’s easiest to get info on is yourself, and this site’s exceptionally detailed information and tools make it a top-notch program for self-checks.
As we’ve stated already, these sites use algorithms for all kinds of purposes, and for Truthfinder, one of those is analyzing information to find such things as relationships. On top of this algorithmic analysis, there are all kinds of location data, past and present. There’s a feature where it can scan the dark web for information, as well as their normal searches.
On top of this all, their site is fast, easy to read, and convenient. Their app is just as good, which means you can access their services anytime, anywhere you have Wi-Fi and a device that connects to it. The site is sleek, fast to navigate, and fast to work; there’s a lot to like!
Pricing:
Their pricing is 29 dollars per month if you’re buying a single month of membership. If you buy two months of membership at a time, this goes down to 24 dollars a month. While it’s a bit more expensive than other sites, it allows you to search by a person’s name, which is generally a much more intensive search.Â
On the other hand, its phone number search is a separate subscription of only 5 dollars a month, which is a cheap price to pay for their level of quality. It should also be noted, there is no free trial, and for some reason, they have a 2 dollar download fee on their reports.Â
Their Features:
Their site is, overall, put together very well. First off, their databases, which cover everything from public records to social media pages, giving you a professional and personal view of them.Â
They also tell you how to use their data and how you can’t use this information, and with both a site and an app on Apple/Android, they certainly seem to care for their consumers’ ease of use.Â
Now, as we mentioned earlier, you get infinite searches during your membership period, and each of these searches only takes 10 minutes to compile all the data. Quite efficient, huh?
Consumer Friendliness:
Overall, pretty good! Their customers generally think well of them, but there is a problem where they send a lot of promotional emails. However, no need to fear, you can just call them and have them canceled, and their representatives are quite nice about it too!
Click here to check out TruthFinder’s Official Site.
Pros:
- It also has a very good amount of information
- Has a 5-day trial for a reduced price
- It tells you what you can use their info for
- Has apps to use on the go
- Can search as many people as you want during your membership
- Keeps their contact info up to date as much as possible
Cons:
- You have to have a membership, like Truthfinder
Our Review:
With their cheap trial and their quality of information, this might be your choice if you just want to run a quick lookup or two and call it a day.Â
Finding family or looking up one particularly creepy dude who gave you his number, for example. Generally, you can see it as a cheaper version of Truthfinder, though Truthfinder may be better in some situations.
Now, it makes a special effort to make arrest records quick and easy to access, much faster than, say, asking the police for a copy of the records. If nothing else, it puts the “Instant†in “Instant Checkmate,†and speed is always convenient.Â
Pricing:
As for pricing, we have a couple of different pricing plans. First off, the 5-day trial, which clocks in at a whopping 1 dollar. For a singular dollar, you have access to all of the Instant Checkmates‘ searching capabilities for 5 days.Â
Quite generous and incredibly cost-efficient, especially when coupled with their unlimited searches. Next, we have their normal plan, which clocks in at 35 dollars a month if you subscribe monthly or 28 dollars if you subscribe quarterly.Â
This includes phone number lookups, but you can also get phone lookups by themselves for 5 dollars a month.
Their Features:
Instant Checkmate has quite a few features, split into three categories; People Search, Reverse Phone Lookup, and Reverse Email Search. First, people search, which does what it says on the tin; you give it a name and some info, and it tells you everything it can find about the person.Â
It’ll tell you about their social media pages if they’re a sex offender, their phone number/s and email address/es, their current and past addresses, their birthday/age, their names and aliases, and information on if they’re married/divorced. Quite a lot of info!
Next, we have their reverse phone number lookup and their reverse email search. They work as you’d expect; you input their phone number or email address, and Instant Checkmate gives you all the info on them that’s available.Â
You can determine a good chunk of information through these but be aware that they aren’t as detailed or informative as the people search.
Consumer Friendliness:
Overall, users seem satisfied with their customer service, no major complaints, and canceling your membership is easy. Just call, email, or use their online form, and it’s done, no hassle. Â
Click here to check out Instant Checkmate’s Official Site.
Pros:
- They offer a relatively cheap subscription
- Has detailed information available
- Includes info such as education and work history
Cons:
- It doesn’t have the most reliable information
- They’re sneaky about how they price things
- Customer reviews aren’t very good
Our Review:
Intelius is an interesting site. It has a role, and that role is generally for finding people based on what you know. Using it in other capacities is possible, but their information isn’t terribly reliable, meaning that it’s not the best at reverse phone lookups if you want to be certain.Â
The site, in addition to phone lookups and people searching, also has email lookups and even has a free trial with limited information. It’s undoubtedly useful, but if you want both detailed and trustworthy information and aren’t trying to find someone, I suggest looking elsewhere.
Pricing:
- Reverse Phone Lookup: $1*
- People Search $1*
- Address Lookup: $15
- Criminal Record Search: $15 for a state search, $30 for searching all 50 states
- Background Check: $40
- Premier: $20
- Premier Plus: $30
* These searches automatically sign you up for a free trial of Intelius Premier Plus, with an $8 cancellation fee if you cancel the trial while it is active.
Their Features:
Apart from their subscription plans, you have their normal searches, which give you a variety of information. Starting with the phone number lookup, you can gather information on a caller, such as their name, address, age, phone carrier, and possibly their family members.Â
Next, their people search, which gives you their age, address, email address, social media pages, and info on their education/employment. Next, address lookup, which tells you about their home, their contact info, and sex offenders in the area.Â
After that, we have their criminal record search, which looks through their criminal history, and the background check, which does a more comprehensive search on them in the public record, including their criminal records and some financial info.
Consumer Friendliness:
It was okay. You can’t talk to a representative on the phone, but you can cancel online, so it all works out. It’s okay, nothing exceptional.
Click here to check out Intelius’ Official Site.
4. US Search
Pros:
- Can search with no membership
- Free report printing
- Lots of detail
Cons:
- Not transparent about how you can use the info, just a small blurb in the fine print
- No mobile app, just the site
- No free trial
- Bad reviews
Our Review:
First off, what’s interesting is that you don’t need to sign up for a membership to run a reverse phone lookup, unlike most other sites. In addition, you can print reports for free, another rarity, and they give you a good amount of detail on your target.
As for the downsides, well, there are a few. First off, it shows accurate info but didn’t cover contact info in our testing. Basically, every other site gives you their email address, but not this one, despite the info quality.Â
Next, it is rather poor at determining relationships, as our testing showed that a good chunk of associated people was, in fact, not associated at all.
Finally, the transparency; they don’t tell you how to use their info. This is a big deal because using info gained this way the wrong way can lead to some serious detriments, ranging from social awkwardness to breaking the law.Â
They give you an explanation in the fine print, and that’s a more bare-bones one. It isn’t a guide on how to use it; at best, it tells you how not to.
Pricing:
- Basic People Search: $2.45
- State Criminal Record Search: $15
- Background Check: $40
- Monthly Subscription: $20
Their Features:
Well, we’ve explained the basics of what these searches do previously, and that applies here. There’s nothing special about their searches; they’re generic in how they operate and what info they give, though they are accurate.
Consumer Friendliness:
The reviews section of this site was a bit of a bloodbath. We found very little in the way of positive reviews, with lots of 1 and 2-star reviews. Their customer service wasn’t great, either. This site is one of the worse options on the list.
#5 PeopleFinders
Pros:
- They have an app for Android devices
- Do not need a membership
- There is a cheap 3-day trial you can get
Cons:
- No app for Apple devices
- It does not have a social media search function
- Has a cancellation fee
Our Review:
Well, it was nice and convenient, as far as these sites go. You input their phone number, or their name and city of residence. They get a match, you give them your payment information, and then they give you your report on the person.
It gives a good chunk of information, too. It gives you their address, their name, information on previous properties, info on previous foreclosures/evictions, their relatives, and their criminal record, as well.
Pricing:
- 3-day trial: $3
- Cancellation Fee: $8
- Regular Monthly Subscription: $30
Their Features:
They have some quite nice features to their membership, including even one that lets you remove yourself from some searches with their opt-out feature. In addition to everything mentioned previously, you can do as many checks as you want, with no additional fees.
Consumer Friendliness:
Overall, pretty good. They’re rated highly on third-party sites for their customer services, and they’re available to call 7-6 on weekdays, 7-3:30 on weekends, with the option present to write them a letter or email, if you so desire.
#6 PeopleLooker
Pros:
- Easy to pick up and use
- Mobile apps for Android and Apple devices
- Particularly sleek interface
- Detailed information
- Informative on how to use their info
- Cheap trial available
Cons:
- It is relatively slow in operation
Our Review:
Overall, a pretty decent site, with standard information quality and quantity. They have a focus on telling you how to use the information they gave you, as well, such as telling you about the regulations in place that, if ignored, could give you a trip to the cop shop. They also claim to be confidential, though most sites don’t advertise who makes searches.
Pricing:
- 5-day trial: $1
- 1-month subscription: $23
- 3-month subscription: $19/month
Their Features:
They have a variety of features, including more normal ones, like their people search, to their info removal feature. First, the people search: enter what you know about a person, such as name, address, phone number, or email address.Â
After this, the site takes all the available data it can and references all the available records to find your best match and all of their information. As we noted, it takes a bit of time, but it is very detailed. Next, they have their “Court Runner,†which tells you everything possible about their criminal history.Â
It looks at arrest records, court records, misdemeanor records, and current warrants, as well as verifying this information to ensure it gives you the highest accuracy it can. Also, it sports an info removal service, where you can look at your information and remove “false or misleading information.†Use this as you will.Â
Finally, their property check tells you everything about a property, from who owns it, who used to own it, its square footage, tax information, what the neighborhood is like, the schools in the area, and demographic information.
Consumer Friendliness:
Overall, pretty good. They have reps from 6 am to 11:30 pm, which is quite a good range, with them having service ¾ of the day.Â
They can be contacted through calling, emailing, or filling out their contact form, with their reps being both friendly and helpful, with quick and effective solutions to most issues.
#7 BeenVerified
Pros:
- Up to date contact info
- Multiple ways to look at the info
- It tells you how you can and can’t use their information
- Unlimited searches for members
- Apps for Apple and Android devices
Cons:
- No free trial
- It can take a while to work
- Not super accurate in their reports
Our Review:
The biggest strength of this site is variety. The question isn’t what you can search for, but what can’t you search for, meaning that if you don’t have their phone number or wrote it down wrong, but have some other info available, you can still run a lookup. For example, they have a vehicle identification number (VIN) search.Â
Through this, you can find out info about the car, past and present, such as who owned it, how much it’s worth, any recalls, and accidents it’s been in. You can get the VIN of a car from the windshield or the doorjamb on the drivers’ side of the car.
Something else that’s quite interesting is their Unclaimed Money Search. Through this, you can find out about money that’s owed to you that you didn’t know about. For example, misplaced bonds, overpaid bills, and some private companies that owe you for some reason.Â
These aren’t easy to remember, and if you miss them, that’s it. But you use their Unclaimed Money Search, it will tell you who owes you and gives you their name and number so you can collect your money.
Finally, their mobile apps, which not only function just as well as the site but keep past reports stored so you can check them again without waiting for it to compile a report again. It’s quite nice to look at info on the go.
Pricing:
- Monthly subscription: $23
- 3-month subscription: $15/month
Their Features:
Overall, lots of features, too many to get into, but the most important ones are their wide variety of searches, their great apps, and their information transparency. We’ve gone over the first two, but they also give you lots of info on using and not using their information, which is a big plus for any site.
Consumer Friendliness:
They have some excellent customer service, no denying that. They function through an email system, which is available every week for 17 hours, and they work fast to respond to customers.Â
If you send them an email in a couple of hours, you’ll get one back, and it is very rare it takes a day to get a response. On top of this, the representatives are helpful, thorough, professional, and polite in their emails, which is an excellent addition to their promptness.
#8 GoodHire
Pros:
- Multiple pricing plans depending on what you want
- Easy to use site
- Lots of resources used
Cons:
- It tells you when it expects your reverse phone lookup to be compiled but often overshoots the estimate.
Our Review:
It’s an excellent site, in that not only is it very easy to use, but they are very professional about what they do, reverse phone lookups and background checking. They specialize in helping businesses background check employees for things like their criminal record and drug history. It’s a young company but is doing quite well for itself, given its current user count and growth.
It’s great for figuring out if the person you’re hiring is good for the job and is very good at its job of helping sus out details like their criminal record. It’s simple, easy to use, so you could make it company standard with minimal training, and it can work together with Applicant Tracking System software. Furthermore, an applicant could even check out their own background, and see what information is linked to their phone number.
It’s easy to use and easy to look at, with a very nice site layout and color scheme. While it doesn’t have mobile apps, it has a mobile-friendly site, so it’s no problem to use on the go.
Pricing:
We’re putting some of the features under Pricing, explained in Their Features.
- Basic Plan: $30 per check, finishes in about a day, and runs a trace of their social security number, checks a criminal database, and checks the list of sex offenders to see if they’re on it.
- Standard Plan: $55 a check, finished in 1-2 days, checks everything the basic plan does, and also checks the records of county criminal court, and 7 years of court records as well.
- Premium Plan: $80 for a check, 2-4 days, everything previously mentioned, as well as a domestic watchlist search.
- Account Verification Fee: $50
Their Features:
We’re putting general features per plan under Pricing because here, we have some more features that can be paid for if you so choose that bolt onto whatever check type you’re using.Â
As a non-exhaustive list of features, we have features like drug screening, vehicle record checks, ongoing alerts, health sanctions, and credit reports for employment.
Consumer Friendliness:
As a professional company with a professional site, they also have very professional customer service reps. You have the option of talking to one via email, a phone call, or an online chat.Â
We called them and pretended to be an interested small business; they were helpful, efficient, and polite, answering all of our questions and giving us relevant links. Honestly, if we were who we said we were, we might’ve bought in.
#9 RentPrep
Pros:
- 2 membership plans to choose from
- Good price
- Their criminal record report covers the entire United States, including DC
Cons:
- Not much in the way of info on their income
- To get their credit information, you need to pay extra
Our Review:
The last site specialized in screening possible new hires, and this one specializes in screening tenants. They have two packages, which both do different things and vary quite a bit from the other services we’ve covered. Note, while the exact terminology is background check, these do function as reverse phone lookups, but are best for landlords.
The first one is basically the same thing as the TransUnion SmartMove screening program, but in addition to the normal things covered, you can add a line and judgment search. The second option is the RentPrep background check, which is less detailed.Â
It gives you their previous addresses, info on bankruptcies, checks the national sex offender registry for them, and looks at whether they’ve been evicted.
They’re both good, but the modified TransUnion plan is more robust, with more info and their ResidentScore included, which is basically a numerical evaluation of if they’re worth having as a tenant.Â
Also, as we mentioned earlier, you can get a credit report, which is a simple pass/fail based on what credit score you demand of your tenants, and you have to pay extra for it.
Pricing:
- RentPrep Background Check: $19
- SmartMove Full Credit Report: $38
Their Features:
This site specializes in serving landlords, as we can tell from the features. First up, we have the criminal report, which tells you if they’re a criminal, as they tend to make somewhat poorer tenants.Â
Next, it can cover their credit report, which gives you details but no FICO score and ResidentScore might be a better bet for you as a landlord. Next up, we have their income info, which is pretty limited, which tells you about bankruptcies within the last decade (for legal reasons) and might pull up their employer info. Don’t count on it, though.Â
After that, we have their lease default prediction, which uses an algorithm to determine the reliability of the tenant in question, kind of like a credit score but different. And, finally, we have their history of being evicted, to tell you about what kind of track record they have as far as being a tenant goes.
Consumer Friendliness:
Overall, people had a pleasant experience using their service and rated it highly. Their reps are available from Monday to Saturday and can be contacted through a call or an email. Furthermore, their reps were both friendly and helpful, which is, as we’ve said, always nice.
#10 PeopleSmart
Pros:
- Their site is both easy on the eyes and easy to navigate
- They have info that they score and sort with data confidence numbers
- You can save your searches and go back to them anytime
- You can have it watch a record for you and report to you if anything changes
- They organize their results to increase readability
- It tells you upfront what info they give and what info they don’t
Cons:
- PeopleSmart doesn’t touch their criminal background
- You will likely have a few hits for any result, which you’ll have to check through yourself.
Our Review:
They run their searches so that you can search through a couple of different methods, focusing on finding someone. You can find someone with a social media account, a name, email, or, as this article primarily discusses, their phone number for a reverse phone lookup.
Furthermore, though they don’t provide some types of info, they tell you upfront what they include in their reports and what they don’t search for.Â
The fact that they don’t do criminal records or complete background checks makes it less suitable for some users, but not all. Furthermore, you can’t use this info at all to judge them as a potential hire or for anything financial.
Pricing:
- 7-day trial: $1*
- Standard monthly membership: $30+tax
- Make sure to cancel your trial, so you don’t get sucked into the membership, like the rest of the options on this list.
Their Features:
First off, it’s worth mentioning that all of these features are available with no extra pay, no plan upgrade, nothing. What you see here is what you get from a search. So, in addition to the standard lineup of what they search for, such as address and social media accounts, they have 3 other features worth mentioning.Â
First, your account, which has your information, order history, and member ID, all in one place. Second, reports, which lets you keep your reports. All recent reports are found under “Recent Reports,†and you can download or even remove reports from the list, should you so choose. Finally, you can have the site monitor up to 10 reports at a time, which means you get an email if it changes in any way.
Consumer Friendliness:
Their customer service is pretty decent overall, but what’s really worth mentioning is their 24-hour customer service. Unlike the rest of the list, you can call them or contact them with their online form any time of day, any day, and get a response.
What Is a Reverse Phone Lookup, and What Will it Tell Me?
A phone lookup is, essentially, a form of background check that uses somebody’s phone number as the initial bit of information to figure out who the person is.Â
You enter their phone number, and the site figures out who it belongs to, and all the information related to that phone number and that person and presents it to you in the form of a report in exchange for money.Â
What Can I Find in a Reverse Phone Lookup Report?
In this report, you can find generally anything you would find if you ran a background check with other info, though background checks tend to be more accurate.Â
Information you might find includes their name, their address, their caller ID, any social media accounts they have, criminal information like arrest records, whether or not it’s a scam call, their career, education, property ownership history, and more on top of that.
This can be found out from landline or cell phones and reveals quite a lot about whoever owns the number you’re looking up. However, there’s a limit to how you can use this information, as discussed in the next section.
What Can I Use the Information in The Report For?
Now, whether you’re using these sites for a background check or for a reverse phone lookup, there are rules to keep in mind, as stated in the Fair Credit Reporting Act. Assuming you want to stay on the good side of the long arm of the law, let’s go over what you can and can’t do with this info.
So, the FCRA says that you can only use the info you obtain outside of certain domains. So as long as you don’t use them to make decisions about whether to include them in a program, accept them as a tenant, an employee, offer them insurance, or give them credit, you should be fine.Â
Of course, it is also illegal to use it for any criminal purposes, such as stalking or stealing their identity, though this should be easily apparent.
Now, what can you use a phone lookup for? Simply, use it to satisfy personal curiosity on a person or find a person for legal reasons, like meeting up with an old classmate. If you want to know about someone or know who this mysterious number is, or find a classmate who doesn’t answer their phone, you are free and clear.
There’s one last thing to consider; what information do you get? Different reverse phone lookup sites give different sets of information with different purposes.Â
So, we talk about what they do, what they don’t do, what users think of the site, and a general summary of what you can expect, as well as any obvious specializations. I hope you find our analyses helpful!
Concluding Thoughts
So, those are the top 10 reverse phone lookup sites we could find. These are the most reliable out there that we know of and are helpful in all kinds of situations, ranging from seeing whether your date is a criminal or if your new employee has any bad history he didn’t mention.Â
It is worth mentioning, read the fine print. I know it’s boring, but it may save you from jail time if you’re using this information for official purposes, and they’re not always straightforward on pricing, plan details, and cancellation, so don’t get whacked with a fee you didn’t even see! With that said, I hope this list proved helpful, and I wish you luck on getting the info you need!
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