When it comes to online dating, checking up on an old acquaintance or purchasing a valuable item, doing a background check is almost a must. Luckily, it is easy to perform a comprehensive background check even if you just have someone’s phone number. Here is how.
Phone Lookup Websites
If you want to find out more about someone other than their first name and you happen to have their phone number, there is a simple solution. With only a phone number, you can perform a background check through a phone lookup website and find out if the person you are dealing with is, in fact, who they claim to be. There are many reliable phone lookup sites, like Phone Owner Lookup, that can help you obtain more information about the person you are looking into, including their full name, address, and even criminal record. However, before you proceed with the background check, make sure you have the correct number. One way you can check if the phone number is correct is by calling back to confirm the meeting point or the time and the date.
Social Media
With social media, you can discover a completely different set of information than with phone lookup websites. Even though the information displayed on social media platforms is usually controlled and filtered, it can still give you an insight into the person you wish to know more about or at least confirm their identity. Luckily, everyone has some kind of social media presence, so here are a few platforms you can start with:
- Facebook is a great way to find information about a person, but only if that person’s profile is set on public. You can use Facebook’s search to enter the number and if the owner provided the number on the platform, Facebook will display the profile related to it.
- Instagram also allows you to search for a person by phone number. All you need to do is add the number to your contact list, launch the app, go to the menu icon, and select Discover people. From there, just proceed to Contacts and tap the Connect Contacts button. The app will sync the contacts from your phone with the contacts from your account and you will end up with a matching profile. Again, like with Facebook, this will only work if the person added their phone number to their Instagram account.
- Snapchat is another great platform to find people by their phone numbers. Once you have obtained the number and saved it to your phone, open the app, and go to the Add Friends menu. There is a “Quick Add” option that lists recently added contacts who use Snapchat and from there you will be able to find their profile usernames.
Search Engines
Search engines are the first place people look for information on other people. It may not always be successful, but it does not hurt to try. You can do a thorough background check through Google if you have any relevant information pertaining to that person, like a phone number. To do a reverse phone lookup on Google, enter the phone number along with the area code into the search bar. Google will immediately show tons of results and you may have to click on several different ones to find what you need. However, if the number is associated with a business, the company will be listed as one of the first few hits. Unfortunately, finding the owner of a private number is a bit more difficult since this information is not necessarily available online. The best you can hope for is that the number you are searching for is related to a social media profile or some other public account.
White Pages
Another reliable way to do a reverse phone lookup and find out information about the owner of a phone number is to search the White pages, which provide details associated with the phone number, including name and address. People usually use White Pages when they receive a call from an unknown number. To do a reverse phone lookup using White Pages, enter the number with the area code into the search bar. Depending on whether it is a landline or a mobile number, you can get different types of data for free. If it is a landline number, you may be able to find out the owner’s name, address, family members, and business associations. For mobile numbers, you will get less information for free, including only the city, state, and carrier associated with the number. Additional data like the owner’s name and location are available for a fee.
Bottom Line
As you can see, you can easily do a background check with only a phone number. Each of the services described above will provide you with some insight into the person you are looking into, but if you really want to be thorough and get all the information available, you may want to combine several different methods and compare the results.