Do Free Reverse Cell Phone Lookup Websites Actually Exist?

It's a common situation: you've stumbled on a website that seems to offer an incredibly useful service, and best of all, it's free. But when you go to use it, it doesn't work as advertised. Are reverse phone lookup services the same way? Is a service like that truly offered for free online?

First of all, let's define what exactly is meant by the phrase "phone number lookup". Basically, if you have someone's name and address, you can input that into a normal phone lookup system to give you their phone number, unless it's otherwise protected. A "reverse lookup" system does that in reverse: any time you have a residential phone number and no idea to whom it belongs, or with what address it is associated, you can input it into just such a system to give you that information.

There are many situations where that ability can be useful, such as when you have someone's phone number but have lost contact with them, or if you simply want to make sure you're calling the right person before you dial the number. Many online sites exist that allow you to perform residential and business phone lookups like this -- and they even work with toll-free numbers.

However, cell phone numbers and fax numbers pose a challenge. Free directories do not contain any of these numbers; this data is held only by the telecommunications and carrier companies. So, what are your options to perform a reverse lookup on a cell phone or fax number, and are any free of charge?

Fortunately, there are some services online that offer access to large databases of cell phone numbers, but not for free. Because they must pay to access this data, and perform the significant work of assembling all of this information in one place and making it accessible and searchable to anyone interested.

As a result, most of these places charge a one-time fee for access; some allow any number of queries for free after this, while others charge a per-access fee. They generally provide details about the owner of the cell phone, history of addresses, details about the carrier, and the status of the phone line. Once accessed, most of these databases also contain some or all of residential phone numbers, business and toll free numbers, and ever pager and fax numbers. Most also guarantee that your search will be legal and confidential.

Other websites offer access to similar databases, such as those related to background checks and background reports, bankruptcy and liens, locating people, and databases of public records, such as police and sex offender registries, marriages, divorces, adoptions, deaths, births, and so on. Sites like this generally operate in the same way as the paid phone lookup services described above, but note that they are not the same, and buying access to a phone lookup service will usually not give you access to any of these other types of databases.

To date, there do not seem to be any legitimate websites offering free access to cell phone databases. Those that do seem to inevitably link back to these paid sites. Some even will allow you to perform a search, but then hide the results from you and ask you to pay to see them. So, for better or worse, it seems that only the for-pay directories legitimately allow you to perform lookups on these types of phone numbers. If you truly need to find information about any of these types of phone numbers, then a small fee may be absolutely worth paying.