Ever received an unknown call or spam fax and wanted to discover who was behind it? Well chances are, if they have a phone number or fax number, they have a business. If they have a business, they have a website. You just need to know how to find it and discover who’s behind it.
Step 1.
Jot down the number. You’ll then want to search for it on: Google.
Step 2.
The key to searching for a number is to not use symbols (although Google is improving all the time to search all variations, let’s not take any chances). So, you’ll want to search the number like so:
555 123 1234
Do not use (), –, ., or any other symbol. That way it will search every variation that the number might appear as, for example:
(555) 123-1234 or 555-123-1234 or 555.123.1234
Step 3.
You might strike gold and find their website right away. You’ll know because they’ll most likely directly display their number on their contact page. You might not get so lucky and find it in a listing, directory, or not at all.
If you find it in a listing or directory, look for a link to their website or the name of their company so that you can further search for them. If you find their website, you’re likely to find all the info you’ll ever need: their web address, business name, employer/employee names, email addresses, phone numbers, and even their P.O. or physical address.
Step 4.
If you don’t find any information on their website, don’t get discouraged. There are a few more things that you can do. The first, is to do a WHOIS lookup on their website. This will search the registrar info for the domain.
I recommend using DomainTools. Again, they may have privacy enabled, but at the very least you will know who hosts their website and you can contact them if it is serious enough.
Tips & Warnings
- If you’re receiving unwanted solicitations and you’re able to find the owner behind it, I never recommend being rude or threatening. Be cordial and ask them politely to be removed from their list. The very fact that you tracked them down will probably be enough to encourage them to remove you or otherwise correct the problem.
- Always protect yourself and your information and again never threaten anyone online no matter how bad it is or how wrong they are. You don’t know what other info they have on you and you’ll find better results by being polite.
- If the matter escalates, immediately report them to their host.
- If at all you have any trouble or questions about this how-to or find any errors, please comment and I’ll work to update and resolve the article so it’s more thorough and clear.