3 Easy Ways to Lookup Cell Phone Numbers

It used to be easy to lookup where a phone call was coming from as long as you knew the telephone number. Area codes for land lines are keyed to geographical location, so if you had the area code of the telephone number, you could be pretty certain that they were calling from the geographical area to which the area code is assigned. In some states and cities, you could even pin it down further by the exchange – the three numbers that immediately follow the area code. Those three numbers pinpoint the region within the area code. Depending on the population density and the number of telephone numbers assigned within it, you may have been able to pinpoint the exact city, or even the neighborhood from which a caller was calling.

Cell phone number portability has changed all that. One of the attractive features of cell phones is that you can literally have a “number for life”. You can buy and activate your cell phone in Massachusetts, and keep your phone number if you move to New York for college, out to the West Coast to take a new job or down to Florida for vacation. Because cell phone technology is wireless, it doesn’t matter where the cell phone is located when a call comes in – the call will reach the handset.

Unfortunately for those who want to track location, that seriously complicates the ease of finding the location from which a telephone call originates. This can be a serious problem for emergency responders trying to find someone who placed a 911 call, though it is being addressed by enhanced 911 services. Law enforcement officials have access to cell phone tower triangulation technology when they need to track a location for a cell phone caller. But for the typical cell phone user, there’s really no easy way to find out where a cell phone call originates.

The North American Numbering Plan Administration, run by NeuStar Incorporated, is working on integrating cell phones into the numbering plans, but currently, there’s no easy way to find out where a cell phone call is being made, or even, for that matter, finding out who owns a particular cell phone number. Because most cell phone providers do not maintain a public directory of cell phone users, finding the owner of a cell phone number can be nearly impossible without using specialized search services and tools.

In the meantime, if you are looking for a cell phone number or trying to find out who owns a cell phone number, there are websites online that offer access to cell phone number directories for a price. Before you pay out to find the information you need, though, there are a few steps that you can take.

Search engines
The search engines can come up with surprising results. If you have a telephone number, type it into a standard search engine like Google or Yahoo. If that phone number has been put on a web page or web site, it may turn up in the search engine results. This is especially true for a number that has been used in scams or for pretexting.

Social networking sites
Social and business networking sites are good places to find people. There are literally millions of people who have entered their own personal information into websites like Facebook and Myspace. You can find someone by typing in their name at the social networking sites.

Check industry and business discussion forums and boards.
Like social networking sites, business networking sites are designed to make contact easy. If you know the business interests of the person you’re seeking, you can check for their information on a business networking site in their field.

If all else fails, you can turn to the pros. There are a number of online cell phone lookup services and cell phone directories that charge from $14.95 per number to help you find the people you’re trying to find.