Googling phone numbers

[LADoug1]

This may seem like a dumb question but how does this work? When I google a phone number I only get links to pay for information sites. How do other members do it successfully and get the information they want?

[+ poolboy48220]

You do get a lot of those links, but mixed in with them, sometimes you'll get links to other ads, or reviews, that help you verify whether the person you're checking on is on the up-and-up.

[Bacon]

It's pretty interesting what you can occasionally find by simply Googling a telephone number. Besides links to other ads and reviews, I once randomly stumbled on the escort's real name, address, voting precinct and building permits for his home renovation.

[+ MasssageGuy]

This may seem like a dumb question but how does this work? When I google a phone number I only get links to pay for information sites. How do other members do it successfully and get the information they want?

Google and other search engines constantly troll websites and harvest all the information contained in websites, PDFs, attachments, etc.. They then have sophisticated indexing algorithms that distill it an make it searchable.

 

Just imagine what the NSA can do... 50% of the faces in this country are also indexed and fully searchable by law enforcement.

 

Big Brother Is Here...

[Kenny]

50% of the faces in this country are also indexed and fully searchable by law enforcement

Another good reason to take that plastic surgery plunge.

[Kevin Slater]

Just an aside, I find it most useful to google the number with spaces and no other punctuation. For example, 917 204 0101 works better than 917 204-0101.

 

Kevin Slater

[+ Keith30309]

All of the above. There is also an app (I know it is available for iOS but not sure of others) called Caller-ID which will return info that google doesn't.

 

I thought my mobile number did not have my name associated but *surprise* it had my carrier billing info.

I've since corrected that.

[+ MasssageGuy]

Just an aside, I find it most useful to google the number with spaces and no other punctuation. For example, 917 204 0101 works better than 917 204-0101.

 

Kevin Slater

 

Very true. In addition you can do a "literal" search by enclosing number in quotes. For example "(800) 555-1212".

 

It "literally" works... If it doesn't work, I guess it is "illiterate"

[adventurous old guy]

Google and other search engines constantly troll websites and harvest all the information contained in websites, PDFs, attachments, etc.. They then have sophisticated indexing algorithms that distill it an make it searchable.

 

Just imagine what the NSA can do... 50% of the faces in this country are also indexed and fully searchable by law enforcement.

 

Big Brother Is Here...

Amen. I just assume I have no privacy anymore, that everything I post anywhere or say on any device is captured by someone. One more reason why I could never run for political office, my posts and reviews here would surface!

 

(Not that I'd every want to run for political office, LOL. What a life people in that line of work must have!)

[MikeBiDude]

Next step is to signup and used a paid service like intellius.com for reverse number searches. frankly doesn't always yield much more than googling the phone, but sometimes it's great.

[caliguy]

It's pretty interesting what you can occasionally find by simply Googling a telephone number. Besides links to other ads and reviews, I once randomly stumbled on the escort's real name, address, voting precinct and building permits for his home renovation.

It amazes me in this day and age how stupid people can be with their information.

[+ Keith30309]

Next step is to signup and used a paid service like intellius.com for reverse number searches. frankly doesn't always yield much more than googling the phone, but sometimes it's great.

I've always wondered if these paid services were really worth anything when theoretically they are doing nothing beyond aggregating data which might be difficult, but not impossible, for me to find.

 

If I see Joe Backpage and only have a phone number then I seriously doubt these services would be able to tell me that he's been convicted of assault 6 times. Most of the data is available, though use of a voip number means I have to have the providers billing records to get a real name. What's more interesting (and available) is if he has advertised in 6 cities using 6 names over the last 3 months.

 

This all seems too exhausting and, ultimately, likely fruitless. Intuition, common sense and forum info seem like the best means to vet.

[Nvr2Thick]

There are a lot of fake hits as well. Hodges Directory and quite a few others are bullshit directories populated with false data; they're not prior users of the same number, they're just trash data. If you don't get a meaningful hit don't try to apply meaning to the hits that don't make sense.

[+ Gar1eth]

Just an aside, I find it most useful to google the number with spaces and no other punctuation. For example, 917 204 0101 works better than 917 204-0101.

 

Kevin Slater

 

That's interesting. For me including the two dashes works better. But I'll definitely try your way.

 

Gman

[rvwnsd]

There are a lot of fake hits as well. Hodges Directory and quite a few others are bullshit directories populated with false data; they're not prior users of the same number, they're just trash data. If you don't get a meaningful hit don't try to apply meaning to the hits that don't make sense.

There are "identity protection" sites that will associate your telephone number with a supposedly fictitious name and address. However, the addresses are legitimate and the names appear to be randomly generated.

[happyguy2]

Google usually links me to a site called something like "who is calling me?" and many others, some of which include comments from people with the same complaint I have about the callers. It is interesting that the many scammers who call us now can simply use real numbers of real people who don't make the scam calls. They have come a long way from the "Nigerian Scam Letters" we used to receive. I never answer unknown numbers, but google them later to see who called.

[rvwnsd]

Google usually links me to a site called something like "who is calling me?" and many others, some of which include comments from people with the same complaint I have about the callers. It is interesting that the many scammers who call us now can simply use real numbers of real people who don't make the scam calls. They have come a long way from the "Nigerian Scam Letters" we used to receive. I never answer unknown numbers, but google them later to see who called.

@happyguy2, you just reminded me of something funny that happened at work. We are testing a website and one of the elements is the "contact us" phone number. A tester decided to call it and found it to be a phone sex line. The vendor's project manager and developer are typically quick to argue with us and cop an attitude. The internal project manager can also get very prickly. As the developer and internal project manager were arguing about who made the error and whether the issue was a defect or a change, the vendor's project manager blurted out "Oh, who the hell cares? Just change it!" We all laughed

[Guest BarbieGurl]

All of the above. There is also an app (I know it is available for iOS but not sure of others) called Caller-ID which will return info that google doesn't.

 

I thought my mobile number did not have my name associated but *surprise* it had my carrier billing info.

I've since corrected that.

Good idea Keith. Now we know more about U;):rolleyes:

[Nvr2Thick]

There are "identity protection" sites that will associate your telephone number with a supposedly fictitious name and address. However, the addresses are legitimate and the names appear to be randomly generated.

 

Others seem to have a lot of junk data that leads to a pay site supposedly providing more data and background checks.

[UpDownUnder]

There are a lot of fake hits as well. Hodges Directory and quite a few others are bullshit directories populated with false data; they're not prior users of the same number, they're just trash data. If you don't get a meaningful hit don't try to apply meaning to the hits that don't make sense.

 

Totally agree that the vast majority of the results will be directories, "WhoCalledMe"-type sites, and links directly back to the escort's Rentmen ad. These days, only about a third of the searches I do turn up anything other than that. But when they do, the info can be useful: On more than a few occasions, a phone number search has returned the escort's real name, links to his social media accounts, or on-line ads looking for a roommate or selling a mountain bike.

 

Most of the info I've obtained from such searches has made me more comfortable about setting up an appointment with the person, since it allows me to confirm that the individual is, in fact, a personal trainer who lives in Chicago or is just someone with a normal-looking set of friends on Facebook, who's a big college football fan and loves dogs and whose photos sync up with the photos in his ad. On the flip side, the result of some searches have caused me to cross the escort off my list of potential hires - such as when the search has returned on-line escort ads under multiple different names - some of them female - or with pics that don't even come close to matching the pics in the escort's Rentmen ad. Not a perfect way to obtain info, but usually worth a quick try.

[UpDownUnder]

By the same token, it's not a bad idea to do a Google search of your own phone number from time to time. Last year, out of the blue, a search of my own phone number turned up a link to my full name, home address, partner info, and work phone number - all because my HOA posted a resident directory on its website in such a way that all of the info in the directory was searchable by Google. While I always use a Google voice number when communicating with escorts, I still would prefer not to have my personal cell phone number associated on-line with the rest of my personally identifiable information.

[happyguy2]

By the same token, it's not a bad idea to do a Google search of your own phone number from time to time. Last year, out of the blue, a search of my own phone number turned up a link to my full name, home address, partner info, and work phone number - all because my HOA posted a resident directory on its website in such a way that all of the info in the directory was searchable by Google. While I always use a Google voice number when communicating with escorts, I still would prefer not to have my personal cell phone number associated on-line with the rest of my personally identifiable information.

omg - thanks so much for telling us this information. I will check mine out right away!

[caliguy]

I use google hangouts. When I save peoples address it automatically tells me their info. Name, pics, social circles, etc. Just stuff that google will collect when you use their services. I find if funny that so many are unaware of this.

[Nvr2Thick]

I use google hangouts. When I save peoples address it automatically tells me their info. Name, pics, social circles, etc. Just stuff that google will collect when you use their services. I find if funny that so many are unaware of this.

 

http://www.jeffhester.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/social-media-explained.png

[+ Charlie]

I get so much junk phone calls (more than junk mail now) that I don't answer them unless I recognize the number or there is clear caller ID on my phone. If I get calls regularly from one number but no message is ever left, I often google the number, but rarely find any useful info from the links. However, I did try the hints above about number format, and I did find more good links that way.

 

Yesterday I got a call and the ID said it was from a small town in NJ where I do have friends, so I answered. It was a magazine subscription service (for a magazine I already get), so I asked where she was calling from: she was in Johnson City, TN. I did not re-new my subscription.