A colleague of mine suggested that I check out a new service to reverse cell numbers. I signed up for their service and checked some known cell phone numbers over the weekend.
The results were very impressive, a perfect six-for-six! I wonder where they get their telephone database information from?
It’s hard to believe those results came from any of the free phone search powered services, that’s for sure! Give’em a try, they appear to be the best solution for phone searches at the moment.
June 22nd, 2008
If you like to reverse cell numbers as much as I do, you’ll be happy to know that you are in good company!
Data brokers and private investigators report that cellular number traces are the most requested search they offer by a 3-1 margin! They also report that the reasons that this telephone search is the most popular is:
1. Find out who their spouse is cheating with.
2. Find out who their boyfriend/girlfriend is cheating with.
3. Determine who their daughter is speaking with.
4. Locate hard to find people - debtors, deadbeat dad’s, etc.
5. Get the name and address of someone who is harassing them.
6. Corporate espionage investigations (ala HP)
Cell number portability, seamless cellular service in nearly all areas of the US, and plunging service provider plans have skyrocketed the number of cell phone users in the U.S. That means more traces every year to reverse cell numbers.
The typical way most cell numbers are traced is to just have a private investigator call in and spoof (pretext) the cell carrier. They will use various ruses to persuade the operator to give up the name and address of the number’s owner.
The exact ruses used are well-kept secrets by the private investigators who specialize in these techniques, and as you have probably read lately, this technique is coming under increasing legal scrutiny. The latest trend in cell phone number searching is to run online database searches to locate the info needed. Data brokers report that 87% of cell numbers can be successfully reversed by using up to date database searches. That’s a pretty decent accuracy rate, particularly when you completely avoid the potential legal hassles of having a P.I. use the pretext technique.
An update on this post: I recently had beers with a retired old-school PI who shared his insight into how rapidly the data broker business filled the appetite of the public for information. He said that from 1999-2003, his telephone trace & people search lookup order fell by more than 20%. From 2003-2006 (when he left the info business), it fell an additional 25%. By the time he quit, he said that every fly-by-night sleeze with a website was pimping phone searches for about a third of what he would charge. So his loss sounds like everyone else’s gain!
March 19th, 2008