Ethical Strategies for Finding Someone’s Contact Details Online Without Violating Privacy Laws

It used to be that if you needed to find a phone number, you picked up the phone book for your area and thumbed through the listings until you found what you needed. These days, those phone books exist in a much smaller format, and in most places include only landline phone numbers or even only business phone numbers.

There are plenty of reasons you might need to find someone’s phone number. Maybe you’ve lost an old friend’s contact information, you’re getting calls from a number you don’t recognize, or you wrote down a number but forgot to provide context.

From general search engines to more obscure (and focused) websites like Zabasearch, the websites on this list will help you find a phone number for free.

Use Free Reverse Number Lookup With a Search Engine

A simple search with a generalized search engine like Google, Bing, or DuckDuckGo may even be able to track down a name, address, email address, and recent personal updates, all in the same place.

To find someone’s phone number on Google, for example, you may need to do some digging by entering their name and the area they live in. But to do areverse number lookup , all you need to do is enter the entire phone number (area code included) into the search field, and see what comes back.

In most cases, the number will be identified within the first five search results. Select one of these results, and you’ll see business information, addresses, relevant contacts, and more.

Which Search Engine Should I Use?

Try Toll-Free Phone Numbers

Toll-free phone numbers are free to call and can be your instant gateway into a company’s inner workings.

There are quite a few toll-free number directories on the web that give extensive 1-800 number listings; however, you can also use your favorite search engine to track down nearly any toll-free phone number.

There are a couple of different ways you can accomplish this:

• 800 number for company : Simple yet effective. Type800 number for company , substituting the name of the business you’re looking for the word “company,” and sometimes you’ll get lucky.
• Contact us : This is often a very successful method of finding contact information. Type**”contact us”** (yes, in quotes) plus the name of the company (e.g.,“contact us” microsoft ).

Find Cellphone Numbers Online

Millions of people all over the world use cellphones on a daily basis to communicate with each other. However, most of these numbers aren’t found in phone directories, which makes them difficult to track down online.

However, you can potentially uncover a friend’s mobile phone number with nothing more than a simple name search.

5 Best Ways to Find a Cell Phone Number Online

Try Alternative Search Engines

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Niche search engines focus on something other than regular web page searches, such as finding only people-related information.

These sites can be useful resources for when you’re looking for a phone number because they look at only information that could be tied to individuals, such as a number, an address, social networking updates, and business contact resources.

Since every search engine returns different information from the next, it’s definitely worth a try to type your person’s name or phone number into various search tools, such as apeople search engine , to see what comes back.

Find Niche Content With These Search Engines

Use Zabasearch to Find a Phone Number

If you’ve ever placed personal information anywhere on the web, whether that be a phone number, birthdate, or physical address, Zabasearch is likely to have it.

Controversial yet completely legal, this site collects information from all over the web and places it in one convenient place for public access, including some phone numbers.

Search by name or address and see what comes back. If you know their phone number, you can find people that way, too.

Learn More About Zabasearch Before You Try It

Use Facebook to Find a Phone Number

Using just a name, an email address, or a common connection (like a workplace, college, or organization), you can uncover a surprising amount of information at Facebook, the world’s largest social networking website with hundreds of millions of users.

There are many ways to find people on Facebook, and depending on how public people have made their personal information, you can actually be quite successful finding a phone number here.

6 Easy Ways to Search for People Using Facebook

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Use a Specialized Directory to Find a Phone Number

There are a wide variety of specialized phone directories on the web, but not all of them are reliable, trustworthy, or even safe to use.

Some examples of free phone number finders that are useful whether you’re trying to find someone’s phone number or you’re looking at who owns a particular number, includeTruePeopleSearch , Spy Dialer, andWhitepages .

10 Best Web Search Tricks Everyone Should Know

FAQ

• How do I track someone’s location with a phone number?
  The easiest way is to use the nativemobile phone locator that comes with your Android or iOS device. Android devices use Find My Device, which is tied to your Google account, and iPhones use Find My.
• How do I block a phone number on my mobile device?
  To block calls on iOS phones, tap thei next to the phone number then selectBlock this Caller . For Android devices, open thePhone app, then select the number to block. TapBlock/report spam orBlock Number , depending on your device.

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