Best reverse phone number lookup services and how to opt out

A reverse phone lookup is a service that allows you to enter a phone number and immediately find out who the owner is. This can be useful to discover spam callers, research missed calls, or discover the owner of a phone number you wrote down without a name. You may be shocked at how often this service can be useful. 

There are a number of websites that display your name along with your phone number making it accessible to the public. For anyone who wants to keep this information private, you can perform a reverse phone lookup opt-out on any sites displaying your information. 

How to look up a phone number for free?

There are a number of websites that claim that you can perform a “free” phone number lookup. The word free is often stretched as they require you to submit a number of your personal information for collection. Often ending in a request for a small fee to view the phone number owner’s report. 

Is there a 100% free reverse phone lookup?

Phone Lookup

Phonelookup.com offers a truly free reverse phone lookup that is easy to use. The site is simple and straight to the point and will provide the owner’s name, location, and service provider. 

The reverse phone number search takes about 10 seconds and provides basic information. We were unable to determine if they provide accurate results due to the fact that they only provided the general region of the phone number owner. The name and provider were unpublished. Phone Lookup doesn’t provide an extensive list of personal information but they give you a general idea of who the owner of the phone number is. 

To remove your information from Phone Lookup, you need to create an account. Once you are logged in, you can choose to “edit listing” on a phone number. You will be prompted to follow these steps:

1. Call Our Toll-Free # 1-888-259-9927 from the phone number you want to claim 
2. You will be given a 4 digit code on voicemail
3. Then insert that 4-digit code in the form provided, and click Verify after you have completed the phone call.

NumLookup

NumLookup is a free reverse phone lookup service. NumLookup was created to reduce spam and abuse of phones. Information is gathered on NumLookup from public sources. According to their website, If your phone number is available on NumLookup, it means that your name and phone number are publicly available and being used by large data companies and marketing firms. 

NumLookup search takes less than 10 seconds and is a 100% free reverse phone lookup service. The information they provided was accurate. 

Removing your phone number from NumLookup is relatively easy. You can visit the opt-out page and submit your phone number. 

You will then be prompted with 2 options: to create an account and donate to their website so they can continue to provide results for free. Or, you can fill out a form and complete your opt-out request.

OkCaller

OKCaller, an online directory of telephone numbers, places caller safety at its core. It is completely free to use. The service is free to use. Users can freely share information about numbers. This allows other users to have more access to details about calls they may receive. They can increase transparency by identifying calling parties using reliable and verifiable information via their SafeCaller analytics.

The reverse phone number lookup produces almost immediate results. Users do not need to create a profile or pay for the results. The results of our search produce accurate details of the owner of the phone number. 

OkCaller provides an option to comment and let other users know if the phone number has been used to scam or harass. You can control the listing by sending yourself a message or phone call and entering the pin you receive. Once you confirm that you own the phone number, you can change the results to “unlisted”. 

We have published a guide to learn more about what is OkCaller and how to remove it.

Best reverse phone lookup providers

Google

Google is the most popular reverse phone lookup option. Many people always start their search with Google, however, they will only be able to provide a limited amount of information about personal information after an update to their guidelines.

You can use Google to search for the owner of a phone number. Separate the numbers with hyphens, such as 012-345-6789. Press enter and you will see the results with the owner's name as well as their address if it is available.

Learn more about how to remove personal information from the internet.

Intelius

Intelius.com is viewed as one of the most reliable providers of reverse cell phone number lookups. It offers a service called "Cell Phone ID" The lookup can provide information about each number, including name, address, and possibly business numbers. 

The reverse phone lookup process takes about 2 minutes to complete. If you leave the page then the loading will stop so you are forced to sit back and watch the results load. Intelius claims they search all major social media sites and will provide a photo of the owner when available. To unlock your report you must create an account with them and pay an initial .95 cent fee to unlock the report. The results of our search were accurate.

We offer a guide to opt-out of Intelius and remove your phone number from their database. 

Spokeo

Spokeo gained notoriety as the phone number that was used on the MTV show Catfish to search for the owner of a phone number. Spokeo advertises itself as a free reverse phone number lookup, the search takes some time (1-3 minutes) and then requires .95 cents to unlock the report. Read the fine print so you don’t get locked into a monthly contract. 

Learn how to remove information from Spokeo.

Truthfinder 

Truthfinder is a people search engine that offers a reverse phone lookup as part of their service. They do not advertise a free lookup option. The search takes about 90 seconds as they scan public records, social media, and other alternative options to narrow down the owner of the phone number. Once the search is complete, you are required to submit your name and email to save your search. Our search provided inaccurate results and cost $4.95 to unlock the owner’s records.

Learn how to complete the Truthfinder opt-out process.

CocoFinder 

CocoFinder is a people search tool that can provide detailed information about someone based on the information you have. This includes their name, phone number, and other relevant information. You can use it as easily as a Google search. CocoFinder gives in-depth information about a person including photos, address,es and criminal history. It also provides property holdings and relatives. 

CocoFinder provides a reverse phone lookup option as part of their service. As one of many affiliates for BeenVerified, you will be redirected to the BeenVerified website for your results. You will be prompter with a popup offer from BeenVerified with a $1 offer for your report and an additional 100 reverse phone lookups. The information BeenVerified gathered took about 3 minutes and asked a number of additional questions to narrow down their search. The results were taken from a combination of public records, social media, and business-related websites. After initially denying their offer for a $1 trial, you will be prompted with a new offer of $1 for 7 days for the single reverse phone lookup or $5 for 7 days and an additional 100 reverse phone lookups. The information BeenVerified provided was an inaccurate name (alias) and an inaccurate location.

If you don’t want your phone number to display on BeenVerified or CoCoFinder, you can complete the opt-out process for BeenVerified.

Learn how to remove information from BeenVerified.

WhitePages

Whitepages provides online directory services for businesses and consumers. It also offers background checks, fraud screening, and identity verification. It is the most comprehensive database of US contact information. Whitepages is a free reverse phone lookup service that allows you to quickly identify who called you by entering a phone number. You can find the full name and address of the phone owner, as well as other details. 

Whitepages reverse phone lookup is fast, accurate, and easy to use. The search results reveal the owner almost immediately and provide detailed information about the owner of the phone number. To get even more extensive information about the owner such as court records, address, and financial information, you need to pay either a one-time fee of $9.99 or sign up for $2.50/month for 20 premium lookups. Although the initial search is free, the information provided is minimal unless you pay to unlock the details. 

You can learn more about how to opt-out from Whitepages and Whitepages Premium.

Reverse Phone Lookup Privacy Concerns

There have been a number of documented phone scams that have been highlighted by the FTC. Phone scams can cause people to lose a lot of their money, sometimes even their entire life savings. Scammers can con you out of money by using a variety of methods. They may appear friendly and helpful in some cases. Some scammers might try to scare or threaten you. You can be sure that scammers will attempt to steal your money and personal information to commit Identity Theft.

How phone scams work

You or the person they are pretending to know maybe well-known to scammers. They might know your name, address, and any other information that they may have gathered via social media or hacking an email account of a family member. Sometimes they just guess. They will tell you to wire money, send a money order or pay with gift cards, rechargeable cards, or cryptocurrency. These are just a few of the other methods scammers use to con victims into falling for fake emergency scams.

• Scammers often use an "authority," such as a doctor, lawyer, or police officer. It makes them seem more convincing and scares people.
• Scammers claim it's urgent, and they can only help you.
• They tell you that it is important to keep it private. They don't want to hear from your family or friends about the scam.

Scammers can play with your emotions. They want you to quickly help your friends and family. They want you to immediately pay, without pause to verify that there is an emergency. This is a scam call.

Benefits of reverse phone lookup opt-out

There are undeniable benefits to reverse phone lookup services such as blocking unwanted spam calls and addressing harassment. However, leaving your phone number and name available to be easily found by the public raises some clear privacy concerns. We recommend removing your information from reverse phone lookup services to reduce unsolicited telemarketing calls, creditors, and identity theft.