Ever found yourself wondering “who called me from this phone number?” You’re not alone. With so many unwanted calls and scams happening these days, it's normal to feel a bit hesitant about answering calls from numbers you don't recognize. But what if that call is from a family member, bank, solicitor or any other important contact?

Well, there's a solution for that - reverse phone lookup. It’s a service that allows you to find out who is calling you from an unknown number.

In this article, we’ll discuss the four best reverse phone lookup services and their features. Whether trying to avoid unwanted calls or track down an important contact, these services can provide the information you need to reveal their identity.

So get ready to find out who's behind that unknown number once and for all as we take a closer look at the best reverse lookup services and how they can help you.

Who Called Me From This Phone Number?

When an unrecognized call comes through to your cell phone, there’s often no way of determining who the caller is without taking the call. However, given the number of spam and scam callers out there, it’s understandable that you might now want to answer the phone if you don’t know who’s calling.

Fortunately, there are several tools at your fingertips. Once you’ve made a note of the caller, you can try search engines and even social media. If the number is public, you should get a result here. However, if the number is not public, you’ll need to rely on a reverse phone lookup service to find out who called.

What Is a Reverse Phone Lookup Site?

Are you tired of getting calls from unknown numbers and wondering who it could be? A reverse phone lookup can help you put an end to the guessing game. It's a service that allows you to discover who's behind that mysterious phone number that's not identified in your contacts list.

With a reverse phone lookup, you can search a nationwide database of phone numbers and associated information to find out the name, address, and other details of the phone number's owner.

It's not just for avoiding unwanted calls — you can also use it to reconnect with an old friend or family member, research numbers for a business, or even do a background check on someone. Sometimes these services even provide information like criminal records, background checks and social media profiles for added convenience.

With a reverse phone number lookup, you can effectively screen your calls without even talking to the caller. Simply enter the number into the lookup service, and you'll have all the information you need to decide whether to answer the next time they call or even call them back if it's important.

4 Best Reverse Phone Lookup Services 

1. Best Overall: Truthfinder

2. Best Phone Number Lookup Service: Intelius

3. Best for Social Media Results: InstantCheckmate

4. Best for Reverse Email Lookups: Spokeo

1. Best Overall: Truthfinder

Pros:

• Both iOS and Android apps are available as well as the website
• Unlimited reports included with membership
• Phone number records are kept up to date
• Includes options for self-monitoring
• Deep web search is included with the membership

Cons:

• Limited to searches based in the U.S.

About Truthfinder

Truthfinder is a background-checking service that provides one of the most complete suites of tools on the web for carrying out checks on a variety of things, including reverse-phone lookups. Background checks carried out through Truthfinder include a search of the deep web, providing a more comprehensive set of results than would be possible without them.

The service provides self-monitoring facilities, making it easier to keep your identity safe from fraud and other unpleasant things resulting from your details getting out onto the web.

Truthfinder is a service for U.S. citizens and permanent residents only. Background searches are also limited to searches based in the U.S. There are several membership packages available, allowing users to choose the option that best suits their needs.

Memberships and Background Searches

While Truthfinder is one of the more affordable background-checking services on the internet, it does not allow individual searches without subscribing to their membership. In practical terms, a user has to sign up for a membership to use Truthfinder’s services. The membership can easily be canceled at any time.

Truthfinder will return a good deal of information on the subject when a reverse-phone lookup is carried out. If you have several searches to carry out, Truthfinder’s membership plans are extremely competitive compared to the pricing models of other services.

It should be noted that by law, Truthfinder is not suitable for screening employees, checking customers for finance applications, or anything else that would fall under the heading of customer reporting tools.

Why We Like TruthFinder

Truthfinder made it to the top of our list largely due to its comprehensive results and accuracy. Truthfinder is a compelling option for anyone with a number of searches to perform, thanks to the large number of reports you can run with their membership. 

There are over forty different types of data, including social media accounts, hunting licenses, and even Amazon wishlists.

Users can also opt to have their information removed from Truthfinder, though any information on external services (such as government agencies) will still show up in searches.

Learn more about Truthfinder

2. Best Phone Number Lookup Service: Intelius

Pros:

• Features an extensive database of records to search through
• Several subscription plans for a variety of pricing options
• Very fast search results
• Apps available for both iOS and Android devices
• User-friendly interface

Cons:

• Pricing options can be somewhat confusing

About Intelius

Intelius also offers full background checks, with social media being a particular strength of the service. Its reverse phone lookup tool is as reliable as the other services on this list but is also accompanied by reverse address lookup, public record searches, criminal record searches and more. Users report that Intelius’ results are very reliable in terms of accuracy.

Intelius provides its People Search and Reverse Phone Lookup service for free, though the results are more limited than the more typical background checks. Using these free services, a user can see the age, location, and possible family members of the search subject.

This is not ideal if you are looking for a full background check, but it should be enough for anyone who just wants to know who is on the other end of an unknown number.

Why We Like Intelius

Intelius provides excellent social media search functionality for users with a membership. In this day and age, social media is an immensely valuable tool when it comes to carrying out background checks, so it makes sense to place some focus on it.

Like all of the services included in this list, Intelius provides much more in-depth results than possible with a simple Google search. The free reverse phone lookup services may offer limited results, but users with a membership can expect far more detailed search results. The information returned by Intelius is not just publicly available information but also drawn from Intelius’ own database.

We like that Intelius provides their reverse phone lookup tool for free, meaning customers don’t have to take out a full membership just to check the origin of phone numbers. Just be aware that the results from the free searches are very limited.

Learn more about Intelius

3. Best for Social Media Results: InstantCheckmate

Pros:

• The service is very easy to use
• Provides in-depth reporting
• App available for mobile phone devices
• Highly accurate results

Cons:

• No option to generate individual reports

About InstantCheckmate

InstantCheckmate provides background checks that include a range of information, including images of the subject, social media accounts and more. The tools provided through InstantCheckmate — including reverse number lookup — are available through membership, meaning there is no option to purchase a single report without subscribing for at least a month. This should not be a problem if you plan to use this service multiple times.

One of the things customers love about InstantCheckmate is how easy it is, with the well-designed user interface being one of the more friendly reverse phone lookup site designs available.

There is also an equally user-friendly mobile phone app for easier use of the tools while on the move. Users should be able to carry out all of the functions in the app that they can on the website.

Performing a public record search on unknown callers will require membership with InstantCheckmate, which means at least a month’s subscription. This is not ideal for users who want to perform a reverse phone search on one unknown caller. For users with several unknown callers — or who have need of the other online services provided by InstantCheckmate — the membership may prove to be a good deal. 

Why We Like InstantCheckmate

One of the biggest selling points of InstantCheckmate is the accuracy of its results, with many customers searching for someone’s phone number through this service finding the results to be more reliable than those of other services they have used. This service is also easy to use and has a great user interface for both searches and reports.

We also like the customer service provided by InstantCheckmate. They are available from 10 am to 10 pm Eastern Time (ET) to be contacted via phone, or users can send an email to get a response from the support team.

Learn more about InstantCheckmate

4. Best for Reverse Email Lookups: Spokeo

Pros:

• Offers some basic features for free
• User-friendly interface
• Regularly updated site
• A large (over 12 billion records) database
• Allows users to remove their data from the service

Cons:

• Does not provide an unlimited search plan

About Spokeo

Spokeo is a phone number lookup site that provides a number of services for free, albeit in a limited capacity. The service provides the ability to search by phone number or name, with the result enabling the user to link the two together and identify the caller.

Of course, the service can also be used for other things, such as looking up phone numbers in an effort to reconnect with a long-lost friend or family member.

Along with its free phone lookup tools, Spokeo also offers more comprehensive reports that include things like court records and other detailed information on the person calling. However, the user will need to have a membership to benefit from these tools.

While many phone number search services like the ones on this list are more suitable for users who need to perform several searches for information more detailed than what a standard search engine can return, the reverse is true for Spokeo.

We have already touched on the free phone number search facilities offered, but on a less positive note, there is no membership plan that offers unlimited searches. This makes Spokeo stand out somewhat as a service that may be more suitable for users just looking to identify one or two phone numbers.

Why We Like Spokeo

There are many things to like about Spokeo, but the biggest has to be the free tools it offers. The results are more limited than the tools available through membership plans, but it is certainly a solid free reverse phone lookup feature. 

Another thing to like about Spokeo is the accurate information it delivers, with many users commenting that the results were very reliable.

Spokeo also boasts some fast delivery times when requesting a phone number search or any other kind of report they offer. On average, the time it takes to deliver a report is less than a minute.

Learn more about Spokeo

How We Made The List

Putting together our list of best services for answering the question, “who called me from this phone number?” involved a great deal of research into the features offered by various companies, as well as the feedback from their customers. We can break our process down into the following steps.

• Customer Reviews: Ultimately, no matter how good a service looks, if customers don’t like it, we won’t recommend it. Few companies enjoy a true 100% satisfaction rate, but if we see a company getting a lot of negative feedback — especially if that feedback is consistently about the same things — it won’t make the cut.

• Services Offered: There are many services on offer from reverse lookup companies, and the best service will vary depending on the customer's needs. That being said, if a company's portfolio of services is underwhelming, we don’t include it.

• Pricing: To make this list, the services must have a compelling pricing option. Of course, it’s hard to get more compellingly priced than “free,” but we’ve included some services that lack a free offering because their pricing is competitive and the service is worth it.

How Does Reverse Phone Lookup Work?

As the wording suggests, a reverse phone lookup enables you to find out who called by running the phone number through a service which will then return the owner of that service.

These services use various methods for finding out who the owner of a phone number is, from checking regular public websites to government agencies and maintaining their own databases.

Beyond finding out who the owner of an unknown phone number is, reverse phone lookups can also help you protect yourself. For example, the Federal Trade Commission maintains a do-not-call registry to inform marketers and other legitimate businesses which phone numbers should not be cold-called. If you are on this register and are still getting cold-called, the call is coming from a person or business not respecting the no-not-call register.

Services like these can help you determine where these callers are getting your phone number. This doesn’t necessarily guarantee your protection, but it gives you the information you need to find out why your phone number is out there in the first place and hopefully put a stop to it.

What Kind of Information Can I Find Out From a Reverse Phone Lookup?

The most basic reverse phone lookup service offerings will tell you little more than the name of the person or business that called. If you only need to find out who called so you can confidently block telemarketers without worrying about blocking someone you want to speak to, these services are fine. For more detailed reports, a more advanced reverse phone lookup service is needed.

Reverse phone number lookup services like Truthfinder and Spokeo can provide a much more detailed answer to the puzzling question "who called me from this phone number?" As well as the name of the person calling, they can also perform an address lookup, look into business records, find out if that person has a criminal record, and much more that you won’t get from caller ID.

It should be noted that the services providing these features — like those mentioned in this article — are typically offering them as a background check rather than a phone number lookup.

In most cases, the phone number lookup will be one aspect of the report you pay for. The distinction is somewhat meaningless in many cases, however, as you will need to pay for the full report to get the phone number lookup and find out who called.

Some services will also offer this functionality through a mobile app. In these cases, mobile app accessibility is a priority since the whole point of having an app in the first place is convenience.

Is There a Truly Free Reverse Phone Lookup Service?

There are undoubtedly free reverse phone lookup services, but it is more a question of how much you expect from the service. If you only want to know the owner of a phone number, plenty of free services can help. If you want more details — criminal records, for example — you will almost certainly have to pay for the service.

Phone lookups themselves are a relatively straightforward process and can even be handled manually to some extent with the use of search engines. Weeding out spam calls so the offending phone numbers can be blocked is certainly possible without spending a penny.

To find out who called using a reverse number lookup, you will need to choose an appropriate service. Some sites only offer reverse phone lookup services as part of a bundled membership package. This means you will need to subscribe for at least a month, even if you only intend to run a search on one phone number.

If you have had one unknown number and want to find out who called, this type of service wouldn’t be ideal. However, if you need to use phone lookup services a lot, a membership option would likely be the most suitable option.

FAQs

How can I find out who called me from this phone number?

If you are receiving calls from an unknown phone number and caller ID is no help, several options are available. The first and most obvious option is to answer the call. If the caller turns out to be unsolicited marketing or something malicious, you can add them to your mobile device's call blocker and never have to worry about it again.

If you don’t want to pick up the phone, you can head over to your search engine of choice and enter the number. If there are public records of the number, the search engine should be able to tell you who the number belongs to, and you can make a judgment call on whether you feel they are legitimate or not.

If neither of these options works, it’s time to try a phone lookup service. These services can take the unknown phone number and return the owner's name. They can even produce a more detailed report that includes things like court records, criminal records, social media accounts and more.

Can you Google search a phone number?

The search bar of Google — or your preferred search engine — can often be all you need when wondering “who called me from this number?”. As a rule, search engines don’t have special access to phone records or an online directory updated by the phone provider. Still, the public records available to search engines can be enough to find out where those unknown calls are coming from.

If the mobile phone number calling your cell phone ends up belonging to a legitimate business, you can assume they are not attempting to spam, scam, or prank you.

Your search may also turn up social media results of people discussing the number and their experience of being called by it. Failing that, you will likely need to try phone lookup services to find out who called.

How do you check if a number is a spam call?

If you want to check if an unknown caller is a spam caller, you can of course simply answer the phone and find out first-hand. Understandably, many people are not interested in getting into an awkward conversation with a cold caller on their cell phone.

Try a simple Google search. If the number comes back in the search results as part of the business details for a legitimate company, you can probably assume they are not spam.

If your online search doesn’t find anything in the websites and phone directories online, the next action is to try a phone number lookup. These services offer varying degrees of information, from a simple name and number to a detailed report on the caller pulled from an extensive database of information. The more detailed results will usually cost money.

Is there a free way to find out who called you?

Finding a service online for looking up the unknown number calling you can be frustrating, as many services that provide this service will only offer it as part of a larger background check.

These checks are often bundled as part of a membership package, which can seem unnecessary when you only want to find out who is behind the unknown numbers calling you.

Fortunately, there are services that will provide certain public record search facilities for free. Examples of these services include Spokeo and Intelius. These services are usually only good for looking up the origin of an unknown call due to them being more limited than the paid services, but they can be enough if all you want to do is find out who called.

What happens if you answer a spam caller?

The good news about unwanted calls — whether they be spam calls, prank calls, or even a scam call — is that nothing serious can happen as a result of just answering the call.

This applies whether it’s a mobile phone call or a landline call. It’s understandable that you might have concerns over things like giving the unknown caller information, but they will not learn anything new from you simply answering the phone other than the fact that the telephone number they have called is active.

It can be frustrating once the call is in progress — many people are too polite to simply hang up on a cold caller — but as long as you don’t give them any information, they can’t do anything to you. If you inadvertently answer the phone to a spam caller, simply say you’re not interested and hang up.

Conclusions

The ability to reverse lookup a phone number is essential in today’s age of endless cold callers, scam artists and identity theft. The many options at your disposal when trying to find out who called you means that you should be able to find an option that suits your needs.

So, the next time you find yourself wondering “who called me from this phone number,” stop wondering who the unknown callers are — head over to one of the services listed in this article and find out who called!