ry or phonebook) or the site that just took the man's money actually forwards him to a legitimate provider of such records. This not only pawns the customer off on someone else, it also slanders the honest reverse lookup vendor by making it appear he it affiliated with the con man’s site.

While space does not permit a listing and description of the scam sites currently operating, a foolproof rule of thumb is to never order phone tracing, reverse lookup, phone number searches, or even click on sites offering to locate information via subscription or database access. The only legitimate source of skip tracing and reverse lookup info is sites that provide info from manual searches by real investigators. When you see terms like database, cellular phone directory, and unlimited searches,

The popularity of reverse lookup searches and the like has led to much assumption of the part of the consumer. Web-based companies are all-too happy to reach out to web surfers blinded by the desire for instant gratification. Normally all they have to show for their impulsiveness is an empty wallet and a useless subscription to "unlimited" nonsense.

The need for information was both filled and created by the Internet. The closely held belief that everything is available in cyberspace is a dangerous wave that many web firms ride all the way to shore. And they are not going to let concepts like honesty and integrity stand in their way. The worst offenders are unscrupulous purveyors of so-called reverse lookup searches.

Let's look at the customer's situation, followed by the grift.

A young, single mother begins to get harassing and threatening phone calls from a cell phone number, made by parties unknown. The local police cannot do much as the call originated out-of-state, and the FBI is too busy bugging the phones of anyone who disapproves of anything the FBI has done to bother with her.

In desperation, she searches the web for a data source that can ID the phone number. It doesn't take her long to find a long list of skip tracing "experts" and "researchers" who promise to obtain all the info she wants and then some.

After a long period of perusing the many cloned ads for "web detective" software, database access, and "unlimited searches" to "find anyone," our destitute subject chooses a legitimate-sounding company and slams the MasterCard for $49.95 with a sense of relief that her crisis is nearing the end.

In reality, only a couple of things have changed:

1. Her net-worth has decreased by $49.95.

2. She now has links to a lot of websites whose information is of no interest to her.

The company whose info would allegedly enable her to "find anyone" simply sold her a list of links to investigative websites and a few online reverse lookup databases such as Infospace.com. Despite a bewildering array of promises on the company’s homepage, the information she received is absolutely useless.

This is the way such software "solutions" work, or rather, don't work. The other popular scam is sites offering database access of their own. In similar fashion, a company advertises a price lower than those who actually obtain results, promising information on any phone number, or access to a "reverse lookup cellular directory."

Unaware that no such thing exists, the consumer eagerly enters the number to be searched in a teaser box and clicks "search." After a dramatic pause indicated by a fake "Searching" icon complete with a lengthening status bar, the screen flashes something like Reverse Lookup Information located--click here to subscribe and access data.

At this point the customer can't pay fast enough--his cell phone trace information is just the other side of a credit card approval. He pays, is approved and enters the cell phone number for the lookup again. This time one of two things happens: either no info is located (which it can't be as there is not cellular number database, directory or phonebook) or the site that just took the man's money actually forwards him to a legitimate provider of such records. This not only pawns the customer off on someone else, it also slanders the honest reverse lookup vendor by making it appear he it affiliated with the con man’s site.

While space does not permit a listing and description of the scam sites currently operating, a foolproof rule of thumb is to never order phone tracing, reverse lookup, phone number searches, or even click on sites offering to locate information via subscription or database access. The only legitimate source of skip tracing and reverse lookup info is sites that provide info from manual searches by real investigators. When you see terms like database, cellular phone directory, and unlimited searches, p

ift.

A young, single mother begins to get harassing and threatening phone calls from a cell phone number, made by parties unknown. The local police cannot do much as the call originated out-of-state, and the FBI is too busy bugging the phones of anyone who disapproves of anything the FBI has done to bother with her.

In desperation, she searches the web for a data source that can ID the phone number. It doesn't take her long to find a long list of skip tracing "experts" and "researchers" who promise to obtain all the info she wants and then some.

After a long period of perusing the many cloned ads for "web detective" software, database access, and "unlimited searches" to "find anyone," our destitute subject chooses a legitimate-sounding company and slams the MasterCard for $49.95 with a sense of relief that her crisis is nearing the end.

In reality, only a couple of things have changed:

1. Her net-worth has decreased by $49.95.

2. She now has links to a lot of websites whose information is of no interest to her.

The company whose info would allegedly enable her to "find anyone" simply sold her a list of links to investigative websites and a few online reverse lookup databases such as Infospace.com. Despite a bewildering array of promises on the company’s homepage, the information she received is absolutely useless.

This is the way such software "solutions" work, or rather, don't work. The other popular scam is sites offering database access of their own. In similar fashion, a company advertises a price lower than those who actually obtain results, promising information on any phone number, or access to a "reverse lookup cellular directory."

Unaware that no such thing exists, the consumer eagerly enters the number to be searched in a teaser box and clicks "search." After a dramatic pause indicated by a fake "Searching" icon complete with a lengthening status bar, the screen flashes something like Reverse Lookup Information located--click here to subscribe and access data.

At this point the customer can't pay fast enough--his cell phone trace information is just the other side of a credit card approval. He pays, is approved and enters the cell phone number for the lookup again. This time one of two things happens: either no info is located (which it can't be as there is not cellular number database, directory or phonebook) or the site that just took the man's money actually forwards him to a legitimate provider of such records. This not only pawns the customer off on someone else, it also slanders the honest reverse lookup vendor by making it appear he it affiliated with the con man’s site.

While space does not permit a listing and description of the scam sites currently operating, a foolproof rule of thumb is to never order phone tracing, reverse lookup, phone number searches, or even click on sites offering to locate information via subscription or database access. The only legitimate source of skip tracing and reverse lookup info is sites that provide info from manual searches by real investigators. When you see terms like database, cellular phone directory, and unlimited searches,

49.95 with a sense of relief that her crisis is nearing the end.

In reality, only a couple of things have changed:

1. Her net-worth has decreased by $49.95.

2. She now has links to a lot of websites whose information is of no interest to her.

The company whose info would allegedly enable her to "find anyone" simply sold her a list of links to investigative websites and a few online reverse lookup databases such as Infospace.com. Despite a bewildering array of promises on the company’s homepage, the information she received is absolutely useless.

This is the way such software "solutions" work, or rather, don't work. The other popular scam is sites offering database access of their own. In similar fashion, a company advertises a price lower than those who actually obtain results, promising information on any phone number, or access to a "reverse lookup cellular directory."

Unaware that no such thing exists, the consumer eagerly enters the number to be searched in a teaser box and clicks "search." After a dramatic pause indicated by a fake "Searching" icon complete with a lengthening status bar, the screen flashes something like Reverse Lookup Information located--click here to subscribe and access data.

At this point the customer can't pay fast enough--his cell phone trace information is just the other side of a credit card approval. He pays, is approved and enters the cell phone number for the lookup again. This time one of two things happens: either no info is located (which it can't be as there is not cellular number database, directory or phonebook) or the site that just took the man's money actually forwards him to a legitimate provider of such records. This not only pawns the customer off on someone else, it also slanders the honest reverse lookup vendor by making it appear he it affiliated with the con man’s site.

While space does not permit a listing and description of the scam sites currently operating, a foolproof rule of thumb is to never order phone tracing, reverse lookup, phone number searches, or even click on sites offering to locate information via subscription or database access. The only legitimate source of skip tracing and reverse lookup info is sites that provide info from manual searches by real investigators. When you see terms like database, cellular phone directory, and unlimited searches,

y obtain results, promising information on any phone number, or access to a "reverse lookup cellular directory."

Unaware that no such thing exists, the consumer eagerly enters the number to be searched in a teaser box and clicks "search." After a dramatic pause indicated by a fake "Searching" icon complete with a lengthening status bar, the screen flashes something like Reverse Lookup Information located--click here to subscribe and access data.

At this point the customer can't pay fast enough--his cell phone trace information is just the other side of a credit card approval. He pays, is approved and enters the cell phone number for the lookup again. This time one of two things happens: either no info is located (which it can't be as there is not cellular number database, directory or phonebook) or the site that just took the man's money actually forwards him to a legitimate provider of such records. This not only pawns the customer off on someone else, it also slanders the honest reverse lookup vendor by making it appear he it affiliated with the con man’s site.

While space does not permit a listing and description of the scam sites currently operating, a foolproof rule of thumb is to never order phone tracing, reverse lookup, phone number searches, or even click on sites offering to locate information via subscription or database access. The only legitimate source of skip tracing and reverse lookup info is sites that provide info from manual searches by real investigators. When you see terms like database, cellular phone directory, and unlimited searches,

ry or phonebook) or the site that just took the man's money actually forwards him to a legitimate provider of such records. This not only pawns the customer off on someone else, it also slanders the honest reverse lookup vendor by making it appear he it affiliated with the con man’s site.

While space does not permit a listing and description of the scam sites currently operating, a foolproof rule of thumb is to never order phone tracing, reverse lookup, phone number searches, or even click on sites offering to locate information via subscription or database access. The only legitimate source of skip tracing and reverse lookup info is sites that provide info from manual searches by real investigators. When you see terms like database, cellular phone directory, and unlimited searches, put away your credit card and close all browser windows.

Legitimate sources for reverse lookup information, are those that come well-recommended and, as mentioned, perform number searches manually. While there are a few legitimate databases that only PIs and research professionals can access that sometimes contain landline phone info, a legitimate service will never rely on the number being available from such a source. Cellular numbers are always searched manually as no real databases exist.

I can easily recommend two no-nonsense providers of reverse lookup phone number data.

For landlines:

www.unlisted-telephone-numbers.com

And for cell number searches:

http://cellulartrace.com

I have used both services many times and been completely satisfied with the results, response time and communication. There are many legitimate sources on the web; my recommendations above are my personal choices, gleaned from experience. If you choose to find your own source, please remember how to pick a legitimate company and avoid the scams and gimmicks.

Happy searching!