As more people switch to VoIP phones, the number of harassing calls from these locations is growing at an exponential rate. Unfortunately, learning how to trace unknown callers based on an IP address is not as easy as tracing a conventional land line or mobile phone number. That said, there are two things you can do in order to figure out whether or not the call is originating from a VoIP based phone.

Software Based IP Tracers

If you have a VoIP system on your computer, you may be able to install software that will allow you to trace the path taken from the origin phone to yours. In some cases, you may even be able to use the troubleshooting software that comes with your router. While it may take some time to learn how to trace unknown callers with these programs, at least you can find out which company is providing service to the caller that is harassing you. Unfortunately, it may be impossible to obtain a conventional looking phone number.

Web Searches

When your caller ID shows an unconventional number, you are most likely receiving a call generated on a VoIP phone. In most cases, a web search will help you determine if others people are receiving annoyance calls from the same number. Even if you cannot find an exact number match, you may still be able to learn the name of the VoIP carrier. In most cases, the first few numbers will be the same for all calls generated by a specific company.

As consumers and 911 emergency systems struggle to deal with annoyance calls from VoIP phones, more technologies will be made available to trace these calls. At the present time, if you are dealing with an annoyance call from a VoIP user, it may be best to turn the matter over to the police. That said, if you want to do some sleuthing on your own, there are at least two methods that may be of help to you.


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Regardless of who makes a harassing call, it can add more stress on top of everything else going on in your life. If you are dealing with an experienced prankster, they may already have taken steps to make sure that they cannot be traced using normal methods. Fortunately, if you are having a problem with annoyance calls, law enforcement authorities can always find some way to trace the call.

Calls That Are Easy to Trace

Before you can trace prank callers, you will need to find out the phone number they are calling from. If you do not have caller ID, you can also use *69 to trace individual calls. While you will have to pay a fee each time you activate this service, at least you will be able to obtain the phone number that you are looking for. Once you have this information, you can do reverse number lookup in order to identify the individual that is responsible for all calls originating from that number.

Managing Blocking Technologies

Unfortunately, if the number is blocked, caller ID and *69 will not reveal who is calling. In these instances, you can call your phone company and ask them to put a harassment call tracer on your line. Each time that you receive an annoying call, you will need to punch in a specific code that will activate the trace. Once the phone company has three matching numbers, they will turn the information over to the police. In most cases, you will not be told who was calling you.

Even though pranksters may not speak when you answer the phone, their ability to call at any time of the day or night can be a serious annoyance. Fortunately, modern technology makes it possible to trace prank callers. In the worst case situations, phone companies and law enforcement organization can provide additional support and services to help you get rid of annoying callers.



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If you ever are curious about who owns a particular telephone number, you can use is referred to as a reverse telephone lookup. It's a handy trick you can use anytime you need to learn details on a telephone number.

You can employ reverse telephone searches for a wide variety of reasons. You might be getting harassing calls or notice a phone number on your call display that isn't familiar. A reverse telephone lookup is also used by individuals when they keep noticing phone number on their spouse's cell telephone that aren't familiar. Before the world wide web it was highly difficult to find this information. At the time there really wasn't any easily available place that allowed you to conduct a search like this.

Now it's a snap to do this type of lookup if you are online. People have established businesses that compile big databases that have data on just about every phone number. The price is small for a lookup like this so it's available to anybody. However, we wanted to show you a trick that might allow you to learn the information for free.

We're going to rely on one of our favorite sites - Google! Pull up Google and with quotations, type in the telephone number you're curious about (ex: "869-454-6128"). Conduct a search and have a look at what you can find.

The reason why this free method will deliver results every now and then is that the phone number could have been published online at some point. It's possible the telephone number was published in a classified advertisement or some sort of profile page on the internet. If it has, Google will find the website that the phone number is published on. If Google brings up results, take a look to see what kind of information that is displayed.

It doesn't cost much if you do use a paid lookup service. And this is are guaranteed to provide you the full name, address along with other background info on who owns the telephone.

On a side note, I always recommend to locate a company that has a membership option. With this option you will only be billed the one time and can then run as many reverse telephone lookups as you want. This is a membership membership that allows you to login whenever you want.

A reverse telephone search is a remarkable tool to have at your disposal and will be useful in many situations.



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