Anyone who changes cell numbers often is both culprit of and victim of plenty of unidentified calls. Since most “new” phone numbers are recycled, for the first few months after getting that “new” number, you’ll be receiving calls from telemarketers and collection agencies trying to reach the last owner of your number. This kind of call traffic can range from mildly annoying to really inconsiderate. Caller ID is hit and miss; it works better with businesses and landlines than with cell phones.
A reverse cell phone lookup service will return contact information, including the cell phone caller’s name and address, more often than standard Caller ID. A few major competitors in this market offer both free and paid searches. Premium paid services can range from a one-time lookup to a full year subscription with unlimited searches.
Look for the service that gives you the most hits, best demographic data and the capacity to do unlimited people searches. Available demographic data may even include the caller’s age. Another popular option is to do both mobile and landline searches.
A reverse phone lookup may seem like a service you could take or leave, but once you have it, you will probably use it in ways you never thought of, such as looking up old friends, doing counter-intelligence on your business competitors or even foiling attempted identity theft.
SMS traffic presents another potential use for this service. Since typical American teenagers transmit dozens of text messages every hour, even a few percent of them coming from unidentified numbers can be worrisome. Concerned teens and their parents can buy added peace of mind through subscribing to a reverse cell phone lookup service.
So, is this worth paying for? That choice is really a personal one, and it depends on the volume, timing and severity of incoming calls from unknown numbers. You’ll probably be most likely to look into using a premium service after receiving a disturbing SMS, hearing incessant redialing at three or four in the morning, or taking a call from a suspicious-sounding salesperson asking for your credit card or social security number.
