Why would you need to conduct a reverse phone lookup? Many people do them because they have missed a call and are curious because they don't recognize the number. The reasons can be more serious, though. If you are receiving threatening phone calls, for instance, a reverse phone lookup can be enormously enlightening and can help you get the calls stopped. Who can help with this?

Let's use the example of threatening phone calls. If you have received a call like this, you can dial *57. You will be connected with your phone company. Once you explain the situation, they will do a reverse phone lookup to see who called you. They can access the name and address, but they won't give you that information. They will, however, pass it on to the police. This works even for calls that have been blocked, but there is a fee.

If you are receiving calls like this, you can also pursue another avenue. Contact your phone company. They will most likely tell you to file a police report first. Once you have the report number, the phone company can then place a trap on your line. This records all phone calls to your number in a specified period of time, say two weeks. During those two weeks, you have to keep a log of the threatening calls (date, time, what was said, etc.). The phone company can then use your log to find the number of the caller and perform a reverse phone lookup. From there, they have access to name and address information. Again, they will not give you the information but will give it to the police. There is no charge for a line trap.

If you prefer to take matters into your own hands, you can conduct your own reverse phone lookup. It is faster, and it puts the relevant information into your hands. It is perfectly legal, and once you have the name and address, you can provide it to the police. It puts control back into your hands and speeds up the process. While you can ask the authorities to do reverse phone lookups for you, you can also save time by doing your own phone number lookup.