There was a time when your landline phone would ring and you automatically answered without knowing who was calling. Today, the introduction of cell phones, voicemail, and caller ID has allowed us to be more selective about when we answer our devices and who has access to our number. Yet there are still times we get a call from a number we don’t know, and the person don’t leave a voicemail. Or they do leave a voicemail, but it sounds like it might be a scam caller.
While there is a way to stop unknown calls, sometimes you do want to know who is calling. Was it a scam or an actual job opportunity? Was it a business calling from a number you did not expect? Was it a family member or friend you want to reconnect with, or one you are trying to avoid? The good news is, there are ways to find out who has called you without directly answering the phone. An internet search may yield results depending on whether the number is well-known, like a business, but there are websites that offer better information. Sites like Whitepages or NumLookup provide both free and paid services to determine who has called you.
Free ways to find out who’s calling you
One simple way to find out who’s calling you is to go online and do an Ecosia, Firefox, DuckDuckGo, or Google search. Just go to your preferred internet browser and type the number directly into the search bar. If the number came from a business, it will most likely show up in the results. But if it belongs to an individual, the search likely won’t turn up anything.
A website called Whitepages offers a free number lookup service. By typing the number into its search bar, it will show you if there is a high or low scam risk associated with it. It will also tell you the phone service provider, like T-Mobile, and show the approximate location. But of course, this can be incorrect, as people sometimes keep the same number after moving.
There is also a website called NumLookup. When you search here, it lists the person’s name associated with the number. However, if the individual has changed their name, the results might not be up to date. The site also shows if the phone number has any reports of scam calls.
Paid ways to find out who’s calling you
Whitepages has a paid option for extra features. For $11.99, you get a single phone number report with the owner’s name, contact information, and background information. You can do the $5.99 per month plan to use their paid service with limited results for 20 lookups per month. Or you can pay up to $32.99 a month to look up 200 phone numbers with extra information such as known email addresses and property histories.
NumLookup also has a premium report option. These reports include a name, address, age, family members, and social media profiles. The $10 a month plan offers 40 phone number lookups, and the $20 a month plan offers 80 lookups. The website also has a business-specific plan with 200 monthly lookups for $50.
Thanks to technology advancements like the app that has real-time caller ID, we are able to control who has access to communicate with us. For most of us, using a free phone number search will be enough. But if more information is needed, paid searches can give us much more insight into who’s calling.
