If you’ve been the victim of a prank call from a cell phone at 2 o’clock in the morning, you might be tempted to do a reverse cellphone number lookup to find out information about the culprit. If you thought it would be free however, you’ll be disappointed to hear that you cannot perform it for free (sorry to burst your bubble!). Most sites that can perform a reverse cellphone number lookup will charge you in some ways or another.

There are no directories for cellular numbers as there are for landline numbers that allow you to trace a number for free yet. Companies that offer this service have to gather their information in ways that cost them money, and that’s why the best way to obtain legit information on a cell phone number is to pay for it.

Paying for a reverse cellphone number lookup

A single trace will cost you around $15 from most lookup web sites. If you use the feature often, some sites allow you to subscribe to a special plan giving you an unlimited number of traces for a period of time. Paying for a reverse cellphone number lookup is the most accurate way to obtain all the information you want, but make sure to do it from a site you trust. Many sites in this industry seem a bit suspicious (especially those offering free reverse cellphone number lookups – see below).

Free reverse cellphone number lookups – oh really?

Some websites claim to give you free number traces. You have to be careful around those sites though, because most have ulterior motives. While researching this article, I found one that would trade you information about a number for your personal information and offer it to marketers and other third parties. If you do want to try it though, make sure to read the fine prints of the end user license agreement when you enter any personal data.

Basic cell phone number information IS free

Some information is better than no information at all. While you can’t do a full reverse cellphone number lookup for free, you can still obtain basic information on a number by using a free directory such as 411.com. This directory will give you information such as the country, state and city the cellular phone number is from.

Google is your friend

There is an alternative to all the sites that can trace numbers, and it’s our friend Google. Simply type the number you want information about in the search box, and if you are lucky you just might find a web page with all the information you are looking for. Maybe you’ll find the number that has been calling you a 2 o’clock in the morning on the user’s Facebook page.

You have to be very careful around sites that claim to do a reverse cellphone number lookup for free. More often than not, these sites have ulterior motives such as gathering personal data, or the information they provide is pretty basic. If you can’t gather enough information from Google, the best way to do a reverse cellphone number lookup is to pay for it from a site you can trust. Have you ever used a site to do a reverse cellphone number lookup? Which one was it and how did it go?