There are many reasons as to why you would need to trace a phone call or a phone number. Finding out who made that prank phone call is first in the list. You can also find out the present address of an old friend even if he does not use the same phone number. Checking out who has been calling your spouse or partner and vice versa is another. And of course you would like to know who left that invitation to the weekend party on your phone but forgot to give his name. Another use of tracing a phone call is to find the physical location of the phone.
There are many ways of tracing a phone number. One way is to approach the authorities or the phone company. This is time consuming and you need to have a serious enough reason to get a trace on the number. They may give you the name and address as per their records. You can also hire the services of a professional investigator which will be an expensive venture. Not all can afford that.
Today lots of people are turning to internet websites to trace phone numbers. Many websites provide reverse phone lookup services. These services not only provide the name and last known address of the phone owner but also background information like age, police and court records, employment details and so on. This is so because they have access to many public records. The data collected is updated frequently. Results are provided within hours if not instantly.
These websites may be free or you may have to subscribe to it. Free websites may not give you the required information if the number is unlisted or if it is a cell phone number. Checking more than one free site may not give any results either because the database is generally shared by them or it is usually one checked all!
Now if you want access to a paid site you may either subscribe to it or pay for every search done. These paid sites are more accurate and have larger databases. They work well for tracing cell phone numbers too. They provide assistance and access to a larger and accurate database. Most of these sites need to be paid only if you get results.
The downside of such facilities is that there is an invasion into your privacy. Your life is an open book to any one who wants to know. But the flip side of the coin is that you can use these websites to have your details removed from their database!
Telephones are a blessing in times of need. Today, it being no longer a luxury, but a necessity, just about everyone has access to a phone. But the best things in life do have a darker side. When it comes to telephones it is prank calls that make you wish you had never heard of one.
Prank calls are annoying at the best of times. Consider then how harassed and frustrated you would feel when the phone rings in the middle of the night and you pick it up just to hear heavy breathing. Some people who don’t have even a bit of civic sense find a lot of delight in calling up emergency services unnecessarily. This creates a lot of problem and hinders genuine callers from getting help. The fire station is one of the most common preys of such irresponsible people. Celebrities too are hounded by such calls all the time.
The calls may have sinister reasons behind them too. Calling up the house to check out the residents is a common modus operandi of anti social elements. So take adequate precautions so that you are not sorry later.
One way of preventing prank calls is to ensure that you do not divulge your phone number to all and sundry. Getting an unlisted number is another way to avoid such nuisances. But that may not be possible for all.
If you get a prank call, the first thing to do is to note down the number from where the call came. Do it each time you get a prank call. This is very important. If the prank is repeated it will help you confirm if the caller is calling from the same number or using different numbers. Finding the number is easy if you have a caller identification facility in your telephone. If you don’t have it, switch to one which has this facility.
Once you have the number find the owner by the reverse phone lookup facility. You can use various sites in the internet which provide reverse phone lookup services. Things are easy if the caller used a landline. Tracing mobile phone numbers is tougher.
Another important point to be noted is that you should inform your phone company and the police regarding such calls, especially if they persist. They have better ways to trace calls and will take prompt action.
Alexander Graham Bell must be turning over in his grave each time somebody makes a prank call!