How to see who is calling from that unknown phone number

Getting a phone call from a number you don't recognize can be annoying. Sometimes you simply don't know whether you should pick up or not. Is it the National Weather Service calling to inform you that they chose the name you submitted for the next hurricane, or is it a debt collector that wants to know what you are up to? Or perhaps just a friend who switched to a new number?

There are reverse phone lookup web sites that can be of use in such a case, and WhoIsThisPhone is one of them. The service has been online for only a few months, yet over 1.3 million queries have already been processed.

Just open the WhoIsThisPhone web site and input the number you want to look up. It does not matter whether it is a landline or a cellular phone. As long as it is a phone number within the United States, it should work. Voila! Now you have some basic information about the caller behind the queried phone number, including the line type, service provider, and geographical location.

For anything beyond that, however, you will have to take out your credit card. A single trace report costs $14.95, but signing up for a $49.95 1-year unlimited membership appears to be a much better deal. For an extra $4.95 you get people search, reverse IP address search, and other minor goodies. The disclaimer on the web page states that if your search yields no results, your account will not be charged. In exchange for your money you get the name of the owner of the queried phone number, their most current address, and even people who he or she might know or live with.